


Light a Match and All I'll See is You

by PastelMess



Series: Light A Match [1]
Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Self-Harm, Superpowers, its good I promise, mild violence, ocassional blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-04-05 09:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 141,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4175058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelMess/pseuds/PastelMess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A strange vine covered building that looked abandoned but certainly wasn't abandoned was the last thing Josh expected to find in the woods. Especially a strange vine covered building occupied by people with superpowers.</p><p>He certainly didn't expect to find a strange man with an addictive personality and paint covered hands.</p><p>'"I’ve never seen you before,' they spoke, and it clicked that this must be Tyler.<br/>Tyler, the one who was screaming in the corner about not being Tyler."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 001

**Author's Note:**

> After midnight I get weird ideas for fics and then I write them. 
> 
> Got big plans for this. Stay tuned.

Josh was an idiot.

He hadn’t planned on spending his Saturday night running away from two very scary looking large men - he was sure nobody planned on doing that. Who wanted to be chased by two very scary looking large men on a Saturday night? Certainly not Joshua Dun.

Josh was an idiot because he had left his apartment late that afternoon to go to the music store downtown because he just _had_ to look at that drumset he knew he would never be able to afford, the one that sat in the back coated in a sleek black finish, the one that Josh wanted to play so badly. Josh was an idiot because he had been in such a rush to see this stupid expensive drumset he totally forgot to lock his door. Josh was an idiot because he walked into his house to find two very scary looking large men sitting on his cheap, ripped couch, smoking what was certainly not a normal cigarette, and all he had said was “I wasn’t expecting company.”

Josh was an idiot for being a stupid, naive young adult wanting to defy his parents by getting involved in something he really shouldn’t have gotten involved in. Josh did drugs once. Josh hauled drugs from Ohio all the way to California once. He thought he had escaped from that life five years later.

Josh was an idiot for thinking that.

So now Josh was running down alleyways and shoving trash cans and whatever else he could find behind him to block the path, jumping every time he heard yelling or a gun shot. He was shimmying between cars and jaywalking across streets and all he could think was _I am so so so screwed I am going to die why did I not lock my door I am an idiot I’m going to die._

He was tired and his feet hurt and he wanted to stop but he kept going, because he was scared for his life and Josh was an idiot and couldn’t go back home. He ran faster than he had ever ran, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he left the outskirts of the city and darted into a forest he had never paid any attention too. How long had those stupid trees been growing out of the ground? How long had this stupid forest been right next to the city? Josh couldn’t tell you.

It was dark and he had to focus on not tripping over tree roots or running into poisonous plants as well as not getting killed. His breathing was too loud and his eyes weren’t working properly. What had he done wrong? How had they found him?

Josh prayed there were only two very scary looking large men and not others waiting for him in this dark something-out-of-a-horror-movie forest. He didn’t stop until he reached what looked to be an abandoned building. Josh was confused to why it sat in the middle of this forest, covered in vines and God knows what else, when there was nothing else around.

He figured it was God telling him to “get inside and hide before you get killed.”

So Josh did just that. He rested a hand on the rough finishing of the building and felt his way around to a part that was almost completely submerged in the ground, complete with equally vine covered steps to a metal door. Josh bit his lip as he tugged on the door handle, almost fainting with relief when it opened. He figured it would be just his luck to have it not open, and instead of being killed by thugs he’d get eaten by some animal making loud noises in the dark.

It was pitch black when he stepped inside. The heavy door slammed shut loudly, causing an already scared Josh to jump. He really wished he would have grabbed a lighter, a flashlight, his _cell phone_ , anything, because it was really dark and Josh did not like that one bit.

He felt his way around the room, trying to figure out what it was or had been. The walls were cool and slick, like the same material of the door, and he was surprised when he felt cold air on his face. Did this place have working air conditioning? How long ago did it go under?

Josh’s already uneven breath became more uneven, if possible.

And he really should have been paying attention to his surroundings when a fist hit him square in the nose, completely knocking him out cold.

\---

Josh hurt everywhere.

His eyes were still shut, but he could feel his aching body. His nose hurt, first off, but his arms and legs hurt as well. And he felt cold.

Josh attempted to move an arm, but was stopped short by something digging into his wrist. His eyes shot open.

His mind was suddenly flooded with thoughts, the loudest ones being _no no no no no no_. This was the end of Joshua Dun. He was going to die alone in this weird building covered in vines that he thought was abandoned and was definitely not abandoned. Maybe those two very scary looking large men had actually been several very scary looking large men and this building was a trap. A trap Josh had walked right in to.

Josh was an idiot.

He craned his neck to see the outline of a door, a strip of light coming from underneath. The room itself was the same slick metal he had felt before; the floor was the same as well. He wondered if this place had used to be a prison. It wouldn’t be surprising, considering the room had no windows.

Josh attempted to move again - this time a leg. But nope, his legs were zip-tied around his ankles and he could feel where they had been rubbed raw. He wondered what time it was. He wondered how long he had been unconscious.

After five more minutes of useless struggling, Josh let out a defeated sigh. He was so screwed.

He heard footsteps then; Josh didn’t even dare to breathe as the noise got louder.

Then they stopped, right in front of his door.

Josh didn’t want to look. This was the end.

The door opened with a loud creak and light flooded the room, causing Josh to squint and duck his head. He struggled to get out again. The shadow of the figure appeared on the wall in front of Josh, along with the whisper of a faint ringing noise in his right ear. He shook his head, attempting to get rid of it, but nothing happened. It was almost as if there was a fly making a home in his head.

The minute the door slammed shut and the room was submerged in darkness, the figure talked.

“So you’re the fucker that tried to steal from us, huh?” The room once again exploded with light as the man pulled the chain of a single lightbulb. Cliche, but Josh had to admit: it added to the effect.

The man was wearing a black leather jacket and skinny jeans, his hair chocolate brown and his face flawless. Not very intimidating, but there was something...off about this guy.

“I wasn’t trying to steal anything,” Josh started, surprised at how raw his voice sounded. He attempted to clear it before continuing, “The door was unlocked and I let myself in. I thought it was abandoned.” The ringing in Josh’s ear seemed to increase in volume. He winced.

“Yeah buddy, I don’t think so. You see, you chose the wrong place to break into.” The man took a step closer towards Josh, and he tried to refrain from pushing himself farther down into the chair. “The people here can do a lot more than the average shiner and broken nose.” He gestured to his own face, which instantly let Josh know that his face was a broken, bloody, purple and blue mess, which you know, he sort of already assumed that was the case. “You’re only human,” The man leaned down until he was inches away from Josh’s face, his breath warm against Josh’s cheek. He wiggled in his chair, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “And I’m a God.”

And the ringing in Josh’s ear exploded, a thumping squeal that made his brain pound against his skull, and he couldn’t help but to let out a yelp in pain. He didn’t know how the guy was doing this, but all he did know was that he wanted it to stop.

“Please,” Josh’s voice was coming out in ragged breaths and he knew he sounded pathetic. “Please stop.”

The man’s laugh was loud and bitter. “Why should I stop? You’re obviously an idiot.”

Finally. Something Josh could agree with.

The ringing increased until Josh honestly thought his brain was going to explode inside his head. It didn’t sound like a very pleasant way to die.

“Brendon!” a new voice entered the mix, one that sounded like a pretentious college professor who thought he knew everything. Surprisingly, the voice sounded comforting. “What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?” It was funny, Josh hadn’t even noticed the door opening.

Brendon seemed to shrink in his spot. “I was just messing with the guy, he’s a criminal, I was just teaching him a lesson.”

There was a brief moment of silence before college professor was sighing. “Get out.”

“But Dal-”

“I said get out!”

Brendon shoved his hands in his pockets and sulked out the door. Josh watched him leave, thankful the ringing was back to the annoying buzz at the back of his head. He locked eyes with the light brown haired man clad in a button up and jeans, his face full of sympathy.

“Thank you,” Josh breathed, leaning back in his chair.

“Don’t thank me yet.” the door banged shut and once again Josh was by himself, scared out of his mind.

At least the light was on.

**\---**

Josh focused on his breathing as the minutes ticked by. What he didn’t focus on was the fact that he really had to pee and his stomach was growling because he hadn’t eaten since eleven o’clock yesterday. Instead he tried to wrap his mind around what Brendon had said about the people here being able to hurt him more than the average one. About Josh being human and Brendon being a God. He had to have been screwing around right? Brendon had to be human. What else could he be? An alien?

“Too much _X_ _-Files_ ,” Josh muttered as he attempted to come up with another theory. Only that didn’t last long because the door was being thrown open and  _another_  guy was entering the room. Josh prayed this guy didn’t try to melt his brain.

The guy was shorter than Josh, but he was decked out in tattoos (a thousand times more than Josh was) and had a permanent scowl on his face. His hair was blonde, which was quite a change from the other two tall lanky men, and he looked like someone that could beat the living daylights out of him in one hit. When he raised his hand to rub his chin, Josh noticed blood on his knuckles. Was this the guy that had knocked him out?

“Uh, Hi.” Josh tried to make himself sit up straighter than before, to show this guy he was taller than him and not afraid (Even though Josh was more afraid of this guy than he had been of Brendon.) “I’d wave but I’m a little tied up at the moment.”

The blonde guy didn’t hesitate to punch Josh in the jaw.

“Alright then,” Josh replied to silence, moving his now extremely aching jaw around. “No puns. Got it.”

“I’m gonna be as straightforward with you as your simple mind can handle.You answer my questions and you don’t get hurt. You act like a smart ass and say something stupid like that again, I won’t hesitate to do something even worse to you.” He leaned closer to Josh’s face, close enough that Josh could see the scars on his skin. He wondered if this guy had ever killed anyone. “And I can do a hell of a lot worse. Got it?”

Josh nodded his head. He could feel his leg shaking but made no attempt to stop it.

“Who sent you here?” Josh blinked.

“No one sent me here.” The blonde guy clenched his jaw and nodded his head.

“Alright, whatever you say.” Suddenly Josh’s left arm exploded with pain, like his bones were cracking and shifting under his skin. He screamed. “I’m gonna ask one last time. Who sent you here?”

“No one,” Josh managed to spit out in a sputtered breath. His eyes were watering and he just wanted it to _stop_. This pain was a million times worse than the one Brendon had caused. “Running...away...s-saw...this...p-place...” Josh let out another scream and the pain subsided. He blinked back another set of tears.

“Alright, start over. Running away from who?” Blonde guy crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

Josh took a few seconds to catch his breath, trying his hardest to not take too much time and piss the guy off. He had no clue how the guy was doing this and he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know.

“Hurry up before I rip your fucking arm in half.”

Josh started talking. “Five years ago I got caught up in some bad business and it was only once but I tried to get away and I guess I failed at that so I was running away from these two extremely large terrifying men quite like yourself, not that you’re large, or terrifying, no, you’re just a normal average guy -”

“Get with the program. And for the love of God, slow down.”

Josh took a breath. “I was trying to get away from them and I happened to find this strange building submerged in the ground covered in vegetation and I figured, ‘Hey, what a good place to hide and avoid getting murdered,’ so I pulled on the door and it was unlocked so I went in. I wasn’t sent by anyone, I wasn’t trying to steal or blow your cover, I was only trying to avoid getting killed. I’m sorry.” The blonde guy was silent and Josh debated on whether or not he should beg the guy not to kill him yet.

Finally, after what seemed like years of silence, he spoke. “The door was unlocked?”

“The door was unlocked.” Josh closed his eyes, afraid of the man’s reaction to those four words. He prayed he hadn’t said the wrong thing.

An extremely loud noise sent Josh jolting in his seat, and he watched in horror as a crack spider webbed across the cell walls and crisscrossed through the floor. Blonde guy stood with his fists clenched, wearing a look that could kill.

“Fucking Mikey Way is dead. I’m going to kill him myself. He doesn’t even _need_ to use the fucking door. But he does it anyways! Why? ‘Because I need to make sure my brother gets out ok!’ Fuck your brother!” He continued muttering to himself and Josh stared in confusion. What the hell had just happened?

The blonde guy pulled a knife from his pocket and Josh was sure his blood pressure shot through the roof. _DANGER DANGER_  was flashing in his brain along with red lights and he resisted the urge to start bawling like a little kid. Eyes squeezed shut, he felt the guy slide the knife under his zipties and slit them one by one. When he finished, Josh opened his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Josh asked, his voice cracking at the end.

Josh was an idiot.

“Well I’m assuming you probably have to piss or something, considering it’s almost 8 am and you’ve been here since ten last night.” Josh’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t realized he had been here that long! “And we can get you some food. They can hear your fucking stomach in Canada for Christ’s sake.” He paused briefly. “And kid, calm down. I can hear your heart beating out of your chest. Danger is over now, for you at least. Don’t know if I can say the same for Mikey.” He rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Fucking idiot.”

Josh didn’t attempt to move; he knew that if he did he would break down into tears from the amount of pain he was in. Come to think of it, he was surprised he hadn’t peed himself. “I think, that, uh, you uhm, broke my arm.”

Blonde guy sighed loudly. “I’ll go find Dallon. Stay there.” Josh watched him leave, the guy still muttering to himself about Mikey being a moron. Josh wondered what Mikey looked like.

Josh also wondered if every single person in this place was going to break a part of him.

Minutes later the blonde guy was back with the college professor tall guy who Josh immediately connected as Dallon. He wondered what this guy was going to do to him. Boil his blood with his mind? Freeze his arm and chop it off with an axe? Cut his tongue out?

Dallon interrupted Josh’s thoughts with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair as he inspected the room and the broken redhead sitting the middle. “Tough time huh?”

The blonde guy grunted. “Just fix him. We have stuff to do.”

“Very well,” Dallon replied, crouching down next to Josh’s chair. He pointed towards Josh’s arm. “I’m going to put my hand on the place where it’s broken, ok? It’s going to hurt for a few seconds but then it should feel alright.”

“Are you a doctor?” Josh asked bluntly. He wasn’t sure why he asked that when the guy didn’t have any tools or anything.

Dallon chuckled softly. “You could say that I guess. May I?” He gestured towards Josh’s very obviously broken left arm and Josh nodded. He wasn’t sure what this guy was going to do.

The minute Dallon’s fingers brushed Josh’s broken bone he let out a hiss of pain, and then he felt nothing. It felt like he didn’t even have an arm, like it was floating away in space. Then Dallon’s other hand was gently pressing on Josh’s broken nose and the same sensation followed. Josh stared at Dallon, dumbfounded. He didn’t understand what was going on. First a guy who could make someone’s brain explode, then a guy who could shatter bones and run cracks up walls, and now a guy who could heal injuries with direct contact. What had Josh gotten himself into?

“Done! You’re good as new.” Dallon declared minutes later. He stood up, wiped Josh’s blood on his jeans and offered Josh himself a hand. Josh graciously accepted.

“Thank you,” Josh said quietly, still confused out of his mind.

“Welcome!” Dallon grinned. “Take a breather Joshua. You don’t need to be so anxious and full of fear. People will be kind to you here.”

“How do you know my name?” Josh asked, but by the time he finished his sentence Dallon had already left the room. Josh looked over at blonde guy, who raised an eyebrow.

“Humans are such idiots.” He said with a sigh.

Josh agreed.

“Alright, lets go.” He waved Josh over with a hand and Josh followed, not wanting to piss this guy off again. He pulled a zip tie from his pocket and pulled Josh’s wrists behind him. Josh winced at the tightness before he was getting shoved out the door. He tried to avoid looking around as he was led down the hallway, but he couldn’t help it. There were people there, some chatting, but most were staring holes into Josh. He never had liked attention.

Then Blonde Guy was shoving him roughly into a wall, snipping away his constraints and shoving him into a restroom. He heard a lock click behind him.

Great. Just frickin’ fantastic.

Josh sighed as he inspected the bathroom. No windows, no way out. He was stuck.

But at least there was a toilet. Josh really had to pee.

When he finished his business, he stared at himself in the mirror. Dallon hadn’t healed his black eye, or the thick bags that showed Josh didn’t sleep much. He hoped it made him look tough.

Josh wished he would have thought to grab a hat before taking off into the woods.

“Hurry the fuck up! We don’t got all day for you to fuck around in the bathroom!” Blonde guy called from the other side. He yanked the door open and Josh turned to face him, holding out his wrists. Without changing his facial expression, he said completely monotone “take me away officer.”

He saw a flicker of amusement in blonde guy’s eyes.

Once again Josh started getting shoved down the hallway - this time a different hallway. He tried to memorize where they were going, in case he could manage to find a way to escape.

He hoped that would be soon.

“So do I get to know your name or do I have to keep calling you Blonde Guy in my head?” Blonde guy grunted.

“That’s none of your fucking business.”

Josh clucked his tongue. “Alright then.”

“I should break your fucking neck smartass,” he said with a twinge of anger in his voice. Josh’s breathing hitched. He needed to stop being so free with his words. That had always earned him scars back during his time in the drug business.

The hallway opened up to a wide room complete with a kitchen and several tables scattered around, almost like a school cafeteria. There were a lot of people in this room, all chatting and eating. He caught sight of a guy with blue hair laughing, and at another table a guy with sunglasses on waving his hands about. They looked at home.

Josh liked that.

Blonde guy shoved him down at an empty table. “I’ll be right back. You try to run and I won’t hesitate to break every bone in your body. Got it?” Josh nodded his head. “Good.”

Josh watched him go over to one of the kitchen counters and grab a plate. He dumped something on it from a pan sitting on the stove and walked back over to where Josh was sitting. It landed with a  _plop_ on the table in front of Josh.

Eggs. A lot of eggs.

Josh’s mouth watered. He stared at it like he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Eat quickly so I can put you back in that cell.” Blonde guy glared at him. Josh lifted up his hands slightly.

“Can you cut these maybe?”

He sighed, but reached over with his pocket knife and flicked it upwards with one solid motion, splitting the tie in half. Josh nodded and started eating his eggs with his hands. He shoveled them into his mouth quickly and was about halfway done when a short guy with dirty blonde hair and thick framed glasses sat across from him. He was wearing a black fedora and had the sleeves of his cardigan pulled over his hands. He also had the biggest grin Josh was pretty sure he had ever seen on his face.

"Hi Pete!”

 _Pete,_ Josh repeated in his head as Pete cursed loudly. “Son of a bitch!” Josh couldn’t help but smirk.

Glasses guy ignored Pete and turned towards Josh. “Who’s your friend? No. Not friend. ‘Prisoner.’” He put air quotes around the word prisoner and rolled his eyes. “He’s human.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” the words were out of Josh’s mouth before he could comprehend what exactly he had just said. Pete and glasses guy stared at him.

“You haven’t told him yet?” glasses guy said worriedly, a sleeve covered hand rising to his lips. Pete sighed.

“I figured he realized something was up. Forgot he was an idiot though.”

Josh shrugged. “I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff. Today beats everything I’ve previously seen. My name’s Josh by the way. Nice to meet you.” he held out a hand and glasses guy shook it firmly.

“I’m Patrick.” he paused, his eyes flickering around the room. “We’re different. Freaks I guess.”

Pete rolled his eyes. “We aren’t freaks. We’re better than the average human is all. ‘Cause we can do things and shit.”

“Oh.” Josh replied, nodding his head but not really understanding what ‘Cause we can do things and shit’ meant exactly.

“You saw what Pete can do I assume?” Patrick grinned. “I think it’s pretty cool. It’s not pretty cool when he terrorizes the shit out of some poor human kid though.”

“Whatever,” Pete muttered under his breath.

“He does cool earthquake stuff. He could destroy an entire city with a wave of his hand.”

“That’s cool,” Josh said, but it wasn’t what he was thinking. What he was thinking was _Wow that's pretty freaking terrifying_. “What can you do?” Josh figured the guy could make butterflies and flowers appear out of nowhere with how optimistic he was.

Patrick’s grin grew even bigger. He tugged on the sleeve of a passing stranger, a guy with crazy curly brown hair and giant eyes. “Joe, how about fetching Josh and I a drink?” The stranger, Joe, nodded his head.

“You got it man, I’ll do that right now.” then he was practically running to the kitchen, and Patrick was turning back around to reveal that his eyes were glowing gold.

Josh was attempting not to freak out.

“Power of persuasion,” Patrick said, crossing his arms across his chest. Pete snorted.

“Whatever dude. You think you’re so cool because you can ask and somebody will do it. Anyone can do that.” Pete shifted his body towards Joe who was pulling soda out of the fridge. “Hey Joe! Can you grab me one too?”

“You got legs, do it yourself dumbass!” Joe yelled back, causing Patrick to burst into laughter and Pete to start pouting. Josh bit his tongue.

“Yeah Pete. Anyone can do that.” Patrick smirked and Pete muttered something under his breath. “Let me take care of Josh.”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so.”

“Please! I’ll take him off your hands! He doesn’t need to be treated like a criminal. He isn’t one.” Josh agreed with that statement, but he wasn’t about to say anything about it.

After a few seconds of staring at one another, Pete sighed. “Alright. Whatever. Fine. Do whatever you want with him.” There was a flash of blonde, a lighter more pastel blonde, and Pete was gone, yelling after “Mikey, the fucking idiot who left the door unlocked.”

Patrick smiled at Josh as soon as Pete left.

“Did you use your power right there?” Josh asked. His answer was delayed for Joe was handing them the drinks Patrick had asked for, and Patrick was popping the tab on his soda, a smug look on his face. He took a long drink before answering Josh’s question.

“I don’t have to use my powers on Pete because he loves me.”

Josh’s jaw dropped and he closed it right away because that was rude and Josh did not want to piss off these people with superpowers who could kill him. He realized that if Patrick told Josh to go kill himself, Josh would probably pull out one of the kitchen knives and slit his throat right then and there.

And that scared the shit out of Josh.

“Pete likes to come across as scary and badass, but he’s actually a giant teddy bear. Once you get to know him he’ll follow you around like a puppy. The guy followed me around for weeks before I finally agreed to go on a date with him.” Patrick rolled his eyes. “Pete’s a good guy, trust me.” He opened his mouth, like he had more to say, but a blood curdling scream erupted from far down the hallway that sent shivers down Josh’s spine.

“Oh shit.” Patrick whispered, his chair scraping the floor loudly as he stood up. Josh copied him, unsure of what was going on. Everybody in the dining area was leaving in a rush down the hallway. Patrick grabbed Josh’s hand and started pulling him down the hall with the rest of the crowd. “Stay close to me,” he said firmly, all the friendliness in his voice gone.

“What’s going on?” Josh said, his eyes darting in every direction possible. He could feel his heart getting ready to beat out of his chest.

“Tyler is not well,” Patrick murmured as they rushed farther down the hallway, until they were turning a corner onto oncoming commotion. Josh spotted Pete.

“I need Jack, Brendon, and Andy right now!” He was yelling, pushing past the people in the crowd. Josh maneuvered his way through as well, pushing himself up against the wall. He spotted a body hunched over in the corner, his hands pushed over his ears and his body shaking.

What was going on?

“Jack, do your thing.” Pete was throwing commands, and Josh realized that this was a serious matter. Something was very, very, _very_ wrong.

A tall man with a strip of blonde in his dark hair (Josh thought it made him look like a skunk) pushed out of the crowd. Jack stood still, and suddenly the hallway was dropping quickly in temperature and thick fog-like darkness was clouding Josh’s vision. He couldn’t even see his hand two inches in front of him.

“Brendon!” Pete’s voice boomed over the darkness and the ringing Josh despised was back. It wasn’t too terrible, but he figured for someone else it was. “Tyler, we need you to stay calm. Everything is going to be alright.”

“My name...is...NOT TYLER!” a voice screamed loudly from the darkness, and Josh was shaking. He was shivering and terrified beyond belief.

Then there was a pair of blood red eyes staring directly at him.

Josh couldn’t see the body. He couldn’t see the outline of this person’s face, or mouth, or anything.

Just their eyes.

“I’ve never seen you before,” they spoke, and it clicked that this must be Tyler.

Tyler, the one who was screaming in the corner about not being Tyler.

His voice was crackly, and it was different from any other voice Josh had ever heard. He continued speaking. “All this nonsense they try with, the frequency and darkness shit, it’s a bit overkill, don’t you think? I can see through this facade.” Josh could feel the eyes looking him up and down. “You’re a human. A pretty decent looking one at that. No, even better. I’d fuck you.” He, more like an it if he really thought about it, let out a shrill laugh that made Josh shiver all over again. “Tyler hasn’t let me see humans since I killed hundreds of them three years ago.” _It_  laughed again.

Josh was pretty sure this was the most evil thing he had ever come in contact with.

“Their deaths were painless, don’t worry. I just reach out, and touch them. Simple as that. I could make it a thousand times more worse, but I don’t see the hassel. Why would I want to get blood on my hands? Human blood is one of the most filthy things in the world you know.

“The police were so certain it was some cunning thief murdering for sport. But it’s much more than that. I _know_ the thoughts and feelings of all these people. I can feel it when I’m holding them and they’re dying in my hands.” Josh felt sick to his stomach.

And then he - it - started singing. It was slow and off tune, like a broken music box playing a child’s lullaby, cracked and creepy.

“ _My name’s Blurryface and I care what you think..._ ”

There was a sudden flash of white-hot electricity, and it was falling to the ground, the darkness evaporating in clumps around the body.

Josh couldn’t breathe. Josh couldn’t feel. Josh didn’t know where he was or who he was or what was happening.

He was unconscious before he hit the tiled floor.

 


	2. 002

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vices - Brand New. Check it out.
> 
> Also I appreciate you reading this.

Josh felt like he was floating on a cloud.

He couldn’t feel his body, and it made him wonder if he was dead, or even worse: a ghost. Gold spots started to cloud his current eyes squeezed shut view where light was flooding in, and somebody was saying his name.

“Joshua!”

Josh’s eyes fluttered open and he sat up with a gasp for air, causing his head to spin. He began to feel nauseous as Dallon pushed him back down in bed.

“Don’t kill yourself already. It’s only your second day here.” He was chuckling as he reached over to place a palm on the side on Josh’s head. Immediate relief began settling throughout Josh’s body and he realized that having Dallon around was always going to be a plus side.

“What happened?” Josh asked drowsily as he looked around the room. It looked homey and lived in - clothes were laid over a recliner in the corner and there were posters plastered on the walls. But then Josh realized he didn’t need an answer because _oh my god_ he remembered.

Blood red eyes and broken music box creepy and _Tyler Tyler Tyler_.

Josh remembered.

“You passed out after a rather terrifying experience, so I don’t blame you for that. Only problem is, Blurryface didn’t touch you, and he always makes a jump at killing someone. So what did you do?”

Josh stared, dumbfounded. He figured he was probably going to be doing that a lot because everyone in this place was so vague about everything. “You guys call him Blurryface?”

“Well, just Tyler’s, er, other side. The guy has a split personality and it’s very very dark. So the other guy is called Blurryface yeah.”

Josh blinked. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Just call him the other guy. Or his name.”

“Yeah and you saw how nicely he reacted when we called him Tyler. It’s not Tyler. It’s a sex driven super villain that can do more damage than any of us with the blink of an eye. He’s cunning and cruel, and he doesn’t care about anything but himself.”

“Why do you keep a crazy super villain in your home?” Josh asked like it was the dumbest question he needed to ask. You don’t keep crazy sex driven super villains in your home. It was a rule of thumb.

“Because he’s not like that all the time. His name is Tyler Joseph. He’s a good kid, he’s just very emotionally unstable. He’s scared and frustrated and doesn’t like people. But it’s not his fault. His parents locked him away at a young age because of his, er, talent. They barred his windows and gave him food through a slot in his door. They were terrified of him, and of what he could do. Tyler is very complex.”

Josh nodded his head, trying to comprehend what Dallon was telling him. The poor kid’s childhood sucked, and now he was messed up.

Kinda like Josh. Except, you know, not to that extreme.

Dallon continued. “Tyler himself, has the power to bring back the dead. Dead anything, people, plants, animals, you name it. But he doesn’t do it often because it’s messing with the balance of the universe and bad stuff happens. It makes him extremely vulnerable and weak. Blurryf - the other guy - can kill with direct skin contact. And he loves killing. He will kill until there is nothing left to kill.” Dallon looked at Josh with a very serious expression on his face, and Josh gulped. “Which confuses me to why he did not touch you.”

“It was dark,” Josh argued, “he couldn’t see me.” Except Josh knew that Blurryface _could_ in fact see him.

Dallon clucked his tongue. “I can feel him writhing around whenever Tyler’s in charge, trying to push his way into control. Sometimes I can feel Tyler attempting to push him away, but he doesn’t win very often. Peace will lose and fear will win.

“But it’s always the opposite when the other guy is in charge. Tyler doesn’t make an attempt strong enough for me to feel him trying to remove the evil from his body. I don’t even understand how he can stay himself for as long as he does.”

“Have you tried, uh,” Josh pointed to his head and Dallon nodded, a sad smile on his face.

“Countless times. It doesn’t work.” he pushed up off the bed and stretched before offering a hand to Josh. “Don’t be scared of Tyler. He’s a great guy, and an even better leader. His life is just ruled by fear.”

Josh felt bad for this Tyler. He had a sudden urge to try and help him.

“I can feel your anxiety all through my body. Try and lower that a little, alright? You’re making my bones ache.”

“It’s not my fault,” Josh said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “You’re the one digging around in my brain. If you don’t like what you see, get out.”

Dallon sighed. “All I’m saying Joshua, is that you don’t need to be afraid. You’re safe here.”

“I’d be safer if I could leave.” he mumbled under his breath. Dallon shook his head sadly.

“I let Patrick know you’re awake. He’ll be here to take you to get some food. You’re always welcome to visit me if you want. This is my room.” He gestured to the space around him, and Josh only nodded his head.

It was quiet until there was a knock at the door and Dallon pulled it open to reveal a smiling dirty blonde.

“Hiya Josh! Good to see you’re feeling alright. Hope Dallon didn’t give you one of his life lessons.” Dallon rolled his eyes and disappeared into what seemed to be a bathroom. The door shut and a lock clicked.

“It was alright,” Josh replied as he followed Patrick out into the hallway. He glanced back, watching the door to Dallon’s room slam shut. The two began walking towards to dining room.

“Dallon can get a little intense at times. Sorry for that. But he’s extremely talented in what he does.” Patrick shrugged. “Let’s get you some food and then I’ll introduce you to some people.”

“Oh, no, that’s fine, you don’t have to do that,” Josh said, his voice trailing off. Josh was not a people person. Josh didn’t make friends. Josh didn’t talk to people.

“They’re all nice, don’t worry.” Patrick was grinning and Josh just nodded his head, unable to make a counterargument. He hoped Dallon felt a spike in his anxiety. That’s what he got for digging around Josh’s skull.

They came to a table with three people already sitting at it - Josh recognized Pete and Joe from the day before. The third guy kept to himself; he looked like someone who could make Josh cease to exist. He gulped.

“Pete!” Patrick waved to get his attention, and Pete groaned when he noticed Josh with him. Patrick pushed Josh down into a chair next to Joe.

“Why are you bringing this guy back here?” Pete asked, raising an eyebrow. That scowl was still on his face.

“Lighten up Pete.” Patrick said with smile before leaving to go get food. Josh wondered if they would ever let him get his own food. Joe turned towards Josh.

“So you’re the human everyone is talking about?” Josh shrugged. He didn’t know people had been talking about him. “I know I saw you briefly yesterday, but I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself. I’m Joe.” he grinned, and Josh stared at him like he was waiting for more. Joe looked down at his shirt. “What? Do I have something on me?”

“No,” Josh said, shaking his head. “Sorry, it’s just everyone here has been doing something weird and I was just waiting for you do to the same.” The guy across the table - the one who looked like he could kill Josh - let out a loud laugh and the hair on Josh’s arm stood on end. He shivered.

“Weird Pete brought you in,” the guy spoke, and his voice surprised Josh. He hadn’t expected it to be so high. “I’m Andy. I’d shake your hand, but I don’t think you want to get shocked.” the minute Andy said that, a flicker of electricity jumped across his fingertips, causing Josh’s jaw to drop.

“You’re the guy that took the other guy down!”

Andy raised an eyebrow. “The other guy?”

“Tyler’s super villain side,” Pete cut in, his arms tightly folded across his chest. Josh nodded his head.

“Oh. Yeah. When he doesn’t see it coming, he gets the shock of a lifetime.” Andy grinned and Josh half expected Pete to punch Andy in the face for cracking a pun. But Pete didn’t even flinch. Patrick came back then with two plates of food. Eggs again. Josh didn’t care. Patrick had even been nice enough to bring him a fork.

Josh ate a little before Patrick was nudging him. “Did you meet Andy and Joe?” Josh nodded his head. He continued eating.

It was then that Andy’s drink slid across the table all on its own, straight into Joe’s hand. Josh was aware he had food falling out of his mouth.

“I can move stuff with my mind, no biggie,” Joe said with a grin as he drank from Andy’s cup until it was empty. Then he slammed it on the table, and Andy sighed.

“You’re getting me another.”

“I might drink it all by the time I get to the table.”

Josh decided he liked Andy and Joe.

Five minutes later, Patrick was pulling Josh out of his chair. “I want to introduce you to some people. Not a lot,” He started when Josh flashed a look of concern, “just some friends.” Patrick led Josh to a different table where they sat down across from the pastel blonde Josh remembered from the day before and another guy with red hair a thousand times brighter than Josh’s. “Hey Mikey, Gerard. This is Josh.”

“The human! I’ve been wondering when I’d get to met you.” Mikey beamed and held out his hand. Josh took it, flashing his most charming smile.

“Thanks for leaving the door unlocked,” he said quietly, causing Mikey to laugh.

“Pete almost fucking murdered me. It was an accident! I forgot to lock it after Gerard here left. Now he’s making me do these stupid perimeter checks.” He rolled his eyes.

“Me too. Nice going stupid.” Gerard elbowed Mikey hard in the stomach.

“They’re brothers,” Patrick explained. “Mikey can teleport and Gerard can run really fast.”

“Not only that,” Gerard started, a smile spreading across his face, “Fast everything. Fast metabolism, fast healing, fast sobriety. I can eat whatever I want and I can’t get drunk.”

“Never challenge Gerard to a drinking contest. You will lose.” Mikey ruffled Gerard’s hair, and Gerard was shoving him out of his chair. Mikey stood up, attempting to push his brother, but by the time he had moved his hand Gerard was across the room leaning against the wall, a smirk on his face. He waved, and Mikey huffed. “Fucking idiot.”

A hint of a smile rose to Josh’s lips. “Sorry I got you in trouble.”

Mikey shrugged. “It’s alright. Pete thinks he’s so cool because he’s in charge. He’ll forget about this is a couple weeks.”

“You’re only good for getting pizza,” Gerard was sitting in the chair before, and Josh stared. When had he come back?

Josh’s brain hurt.

“Am not. I get more supplies than you do.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not!”

“You’re like The Flash,” Josh interrupted, and the brothers stared at him. Gerard opened his mouth, and then closed it. He shrugged.

“I guess.”

Mikey laughed. “He’s freaking out on the inside.” Gerard punched him, but there was heat rising to his cheeks.

“Ok,” Patrick started as he stood up. “Thanks for the thrilling conversation.”

“It was nice to meet you Josh! Come visit!” Mikey grinned and waved goodbye as Patrick pulled Josh away.

“So Pete is in charge?” Josh questioned as they approached another table. “I thought Tyler was.”

“Pete’s second in charge. He does the leader stuff when Tyler isn’t well.”

“Which is all the time I’m assuming.”

Patrick sighed. “Things have been hard for Tyler recently. They seem to be getting worse. Pete understands. We all do.”

Josh wondered why. He really wanted to talk to this Tyler and he didn’t know why he was being pushed and pulled towards a guy he didn't even know.

“Hey guys!” Patrick’s chipper tone interrupted Josh’s thoughts as he was shoved down at a table with four guys. Josh immediately recognized Jack from his hair. A guy with electric blue hair sat next to him, and across was a muscular guy with a nose ring and a guy with large brown eyes. He could feel himself sweating. Was it humid in this corner of the room or was Josh just super scared someone was going to kill him?

“Sup ‘Trick!” Jack grinned and waved. Josh saw him reach for the blue haired guy’s hand. _Was everyone in this place gay?_

“This is Josh. Pete broke his arm and nose, Dallon fixed him and then Pete gave him to me.” Patrick explained, waving his hands all over the place. Josh could feel his face turning red.

“So he’s your pet?” Jack said with a smirk. Josh’s blush deepened.

“We don’t keep humans as pets dumbass,” the blue haired guy exclaimed as he punched Jack in the shoulder with his free hand. Josh started sweating harder. He really hoped they didn’t notice. “My name’s Alex. This is Jack, and over there is Rian and Zack.”

“Alex, Jack, Rian and Zack.” Josh repeated, and then he burst into laughter. Josh wasn’t sure why that was so funny to him. He wasn’t sure if it was from the lack of sleep or deliriousness, but Josh was laughing right here right now and he had five pairs of eyes staring at him like he was crazy. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but it rhymed and I haven’t slept and I’m sorry.”

Jack smiled. “It’s alright, we’re all a little fucked up here.” Everyone nodded their heads. Josh always found a way to make things awkward. Maybe that would his super power, if he had one.

“Show Josh what you can do.” Patrick said, trying to divert the conversation away from Josh’s awkward slip up. Josh spoke again.

“I saw uh, what you can do Jack.” Jack nodded his head, a satisfied look on his face.

“Do not under any circumstances piss this guy off,” Alex said with a jab his thumb. “He will fuck you up.”

“I’m usually an ok guy though. Or at least I like to think so.”

“Jack Barakat: King of dick jokes and giggles.” Rian spoke up, a smug grin on his face. Jack nodded his head.

“It’s true.”

Alex sighed as he inspected his nails. He looked extremely bored with the conversation. “Well sure Mr. Dick Jokes and Giggles can manifest giant darkness fog things, but he can’t do this!” and then Josh was watching in shock as Alex waved his hand and a stream of water rose from his cup. It formed into a circle, and then it was exploding over Jack, water soaking his hair and dripping down his forehead. Josh grinned.

“Fuck you Alex,” Jack mumbled as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and then ran his fingers through his now sopping wet hair. “Now I’m going to have to go fix my fucking hair that took me forever to make perfect.” Alex rolled his eyes.

“And then I’ll mess it up again, but it won’t be water this time.” he was smirking, and Josh’s face was red again.

“Jesus Alex, keep it PG,” Rian said with a sigh and a shake of his head. Josh assumed this happened a lot.

“So you’re Aquaman then?” Josh asked, trying to keep the conversation away from sex related topics.

“Alex is a lot stupider than Aquaman,” Jack replied. In return Alex flicked his wrist and the rest of the water in his cup was dripping down Jack’s face.

“You want to insult me again Barakat?” Jack shook his head.

“I’ll be good. I promise.” Alex grinned, satisfied.

“I can control the movement and flow of water. But there has to be a source. I can’t magically make it appear.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I can also breathe underwater, which is pretty damn cool if I say so myself.”

“Alex at the beach is my favourite thing ever,” Jack started, “he can make these giant ass waves rise that crash into the shore, like fuckin’ Poseidon.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Josh agreed, nodding his head. But it also was pretty freaking terrifying.

“I apologize if it’s a little humid. I can’t help that,” Alex added sheepishly.

“Enough about Alex and Jack,” Rian cut in before Josh could reply. “Neither one of them have powers as cool as mine.” Jack rolled his eyes.

“You wish Rian.”

“What can you do?” Josh asked quietly. He was scared it would be something that could kill him.

“I can’t exactly show you, but I can slow time down for a few seconds at a time. It really helps in fighting and stuff.”

“Yet I can still beat you,” Zack spoke for the first time since Josh had arrived, and everyone stared at him. Josh guessed he didn’t talk much.

Rian snorted. “Whatever. You can beat anyone with one arm tied behind your back.” Zack nodded his head in agreement, a smirk plastered across his face.

“Super strength,” Zack told Josh, “It’s boring, but I’m okay with it.”

Josh mentally noted to not mess with anyone at this table.

“It was nice to meet all of you,” said Josh. He stood up, really wanting to be anywhere but here. Josh maybe even wanted to be around other humans, like himself. He never thought he would think that.

“You’re alright for a human,” Jack replied. “You can hang out with us anytime.” Alright for a human. Josh took that as a compliment.

“Thanks you guys,” Patrick waved. Josh had forgotten he was even there.

When he walked into a building with an unlocked door, he never would have thought there would be a giant group of people with superpowers hiding away in it. If someone told Josh he was going to engage in conversation with these people, he would have ran far away from them because they were obviously high on something.

“Your heart is beating really fast,” Patrick commented, his face full of concern. “Is something wrong?”

Josh shook his head. “It’s just that this is real. This isn’t a dream. You guys can do these things, like for real!”

“Like for real,” repeated Patrick slowly. He rested his hand on Josh’s back. “Do you need to sit down?” Josh only nodded. He was afraid he might cry or do something stupid. “We can go to my room. There’s a spare bed.”

Josh followed Patrick down the hallway, his breaths short and uneven. He was pretty sure he might start hyperventilating soon because his brain was just now realizing that these people with powers were real and they could kill Josh without even doing really anything. Josh wondered if they would even let him leave now that he knew about them. It’s not like anyone would believe Josh if he told them there was a clan of people living in the forest by the city with superpowers.

Then again, Josh did know where they lived.

 _Oh God,_ he thought, _they’re going to kill me._

“Josh?” Patrick reached out to touch him again. Josh flinched and pulled away. “What’s wrong?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Josh’s voice was breaking more every second that passed.

Patrick tilted his head in confusion. “What? Why would you ask that?”

“You’re going to kill me,” whispered Josh. His eyes were full of fear and he took a few more steps back.

“We aren’t going to kill you! No one is going to hurt you again, I promise. I know Pete and Brendon did, but they-”

“Then let me leave,” Josh suggested. His tongue felt too big to be in his mouth and there was a lump in his throat. “I won’t tell anyone you’re here, I promise. I swear on my mother’s grave I won’t tell anyone.”

Patrick sighed sadly, his face full of pain. “You - you can’t leave Josh. I’m sorry, but you can’t.”

“You can’t just keep me here!” his voice was rising with hysteria and tears were burning at the corners of his eyes. Josh didn’t cry. He didn’t. Little kids cried and Josh was a grown man. “I have a life out there! I have a life -”

“I know you do Josh, I know, and I’m so sorry Mikey left the door unlocked and you came in and Pete threw you in a cell. I’m so, so sorry, but you know where we are, and we can’t let you leave.”

Josh was crying. His shoulders were shaking and there was wetness on his cheeks and he made no attempt to wipe them away. Josh was going to be surrounded by these people until the day he died, these people that called him human and acted like he was a middle school science fair project.

He didn’t push Patrick away when the dirty blonde wrapped his arms around him tightly, only cried into his shoulder. This was awful.

“Shh, it’s alright. Life here isn’t that bad. We’ll find you a room, and Pete can take you to get your things. Everyone here is nice, I promise. It’s a fresh start.”

Josh didn’t want a fresh start. He had attempted a fresh start and almost got killed by two very scary looking large men.

“You can rest in my room if you want, take a shower, comb your hair, brush your teeth. You can borrow some clothes too. I know there’s bound to be someone your size around.”

He nodded. Patrick was trying his hardest, Josh knew that. But Josh was a mess, and Josh had been a mess since his junior year of high school.

Then there was pulling, and Josh was wiping his eyes, listening to Patrick say “it’s going to be okay” over and over again like Josh would believe it if he said it enough times. He was being shuffled into a dark room, and there was a bed, a nice bed, and Josh was taking his shirt off and climbing under the comforter. Patrick was still whispering encouragements, but Josh wasn’t listening. He was begging himself to fall asleep quickly.

**\---**

Josh found himself stuck in a room.

Something warm and sticky dripped down the back of his neck and covered his face causing a very uncomfortable atmosphere to consume him. His wrists and ankles were chained to the wall.

Where was he?

Something moved and Josh couldn’t be bothered to look around. He felt defeated.

“Tyler hasn’t let me see humans since I killed hundreds of them three years ago,” there was that crackly strange voice, and a pair of blood red eyes. “Make that hundreds plus one.” He was laughing, evil and bitter, and suddenly Josh hurt all over. Josh was screaming. Josh wanted to die.

Josh woke up covered in sweat. The room was still dark, but he could hear activity bustling outside the bedroom door. He focused on trying to get his heart rate down and his breathing back to normal. _It was just a dream_ , he told himself, _just a dream_.

Except that it wasn’t, because there was a crazy psychopath living in the building who certainly wanted to hurt Josh.

He decided to go for walk. Patrick wasn’t around, and Josh didn’t know where to find him, so he’d do things on his own. After slipping back into his T-shirt, he pulled open the door, looked both ways down the hallway, and turned right.

Josh didn’t know where he was going, but he could feel people staring at him. They probably wondered why the “pet” was roaming the halls by himself. For once, Josh didn’t care. He couldn’t be bothered to care because he was trapped here so he was going to make himself comfortable. Except these hallways never seemed to end, and Josh couldn’t tell where he was. Everything twisted into one another and they all looked the same.

But this was new.

Josh stood at the top of a staircase that spiraled down into darkness. He was curious to where it led. He was also curious to why nobody was going near it; no one was even looking at it. The rooms that surrounded it seemed vacant and Josh wondered what was down in the darkness that made everyone want to run the other way.

_Oh._

It made sense. Nobody would want to be near a crazy evil super villain that lived in the basement.

_Tyler Tyler Tyler._

Josh felt like he was being pulled by a magnetic force down the stairs. He was intrigued, wanted to take every step down to see what he would find.

“Josh!” He turned around to see Patrick running down the hallway. He was panting and covered in sweat like he had been running all over the place, looking for -

 _Oops_.

“What’s down there?” Josh questioned, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“No.” Patrick said fiercely, although him still panting ruined his serious tone. “You can’t go down there.”

“What’s down there?” he repeated, taking a step down. Patrick followed.

“It doesn’t matter because you cannot go down there.”

“There’s no caution tape anywhere. No ‘DO NOT ENTER’ sign. I think it’s ok.” Two more steps.

“Josh, I swear to God, you need to stop.” Three more steps. The staircase was starting to circle back around.

“Why?” Four more steps.

“Because I said so.”

“Not good enough.” Two more steps and Patrick was grabbing a hold of Josh’s shoulder.

“Tyler lives down there. You really shouldn’t bother him.”

“What time is it?”

“Quarter to three.”

“He’s awake, probably doing stuff I would bet.” three more steps.

“Jesus Christ Josh, you need to stop!”

Josh turned around to face Patrick. He bent down to look at him eye level.

“You have the power to make me. So do it.” Patrick clenched his jaw, but made no move to do such thing. “You can hear my heart. So tell me sir, do I sound scared?”

Patrick eyes flickered with a hint of gold, but it was gone within the same second. Josh continued down the stairs. Two, three, four, five more steps.

“Tyler hates humans!” he suddenly blurted out, causing Josh to swivel back around.

“What?”

“He hates them with every living fiber in his body. He detests them. Despises them. Abhors them. Shall I continue?”

But it didn’t matter, because Josh had reached the end of the stairs.

There was a small room with two giant, metal double doors at the end. They were covered in chains and deadbolts, and Josh felt his body fill with fear. It looked like something straight out of _The Walking Dead._

“For someone with a fear of conversation you sure are a little shit.” Patrick muttered as he finished the trek down the stairs. He placed his hands on his hips. “You happy? That’s all that’s down here. Just like I said. I’m not crazy Josh, I actually know what I’m talking about believe it or not.”

Josh wasn’t paying any attention to Patrick’s muttering. He was too interested in the crackly music coming from the other side of the chained door. He wondered what Tyler was doing behind the door. He wondered how Tyler spent his free time when he wasn’t...well...evil. Should he knock?

But there was no need for him to knock, because a pair of brown eyes appeared behind the window and Josh sucked in air. He could feel his heart rate increasing in speed. The brown eyes flicked over to where the deadbolt was in place, and Josh guessed that meant he should open the door. Tyler obviously was himself at the moment.

“Don’t you dare,” Patrick warned, but Josh wasn’t feeling compelled not to, and Patrick wasn’t taking advantage of his powers, so he did it anyways. The deadbolt made a loud sound as it clicked open, and the heavy doors creaked as they opened.

They sounded like they weren’t opened that often.

The crackly music increased in volume and Josh realized it was a record player with a vinyl spinning around, the needle dragging. The women’s voice that filled the room gave off an eerie tone. Tyler spun around on his heel, his flower printed kimono billowing out behind him. Josh swallowed. Somehow the flowers on Tyler’s robe didn’t make him any less intimidating.

The room was dark, and some spots on the walls were covered in carved tally marks. A giant mahogany desk sat against the back wall covered in scattered papers, notebooks and pens. Behind it was a panel full of black buttons.

Tyler sat down at the desk and lolled his head back. His neck twitched before he was leaning forward and glaring at the two unwelcomed visitors.

“Have a seat.” Josh was surprised that his voice sounded that same as the other guy's. For some reason Josh figured it would sound different. Still, it was the most unique voice he had ever heard.

Patrick went in first, his eyes moving all around the room. He looked afraid. Josh didn’t blame him as he followed. This place was creepy as hell. They both sat down at the desk, the vinyl still crackling behind them. This was the first time Josh was able to get a good look at Tyler.

He was tall and skinny, but his arms gave evidence that he worked out quite a lot. Thick brown hair, dark eyes, high cheekbones, and _oh._ Tyler was scarily beautiful.

He was also wringing his hands, one twitching every so often, but that wasn’t the part that intrigued Josh. Tyler’s hands were covered in a thick, black, almost tar-like substance, all the way down to the crook of his elbow. The stuff was so thick Josh could barely see the outline of a tattoo hidden away. He wondered why Tyler was hiding away something so beautiful. His fingers were long and moved with such grace; Josh wondered what it would be like to tangle his own with ones like that.

“Why did you come down here?” Tyler demanded, his voice wavering before settling on an inside tone. Patrick opened his mouth to speak, but Josh held up a hand.

“It was me,” he began, trying to keep his voice from slipping up. He didn’t want to show Tyler how scared he really was. “I was curious.”

Tyler narrowed his dark eyes. “It’s not nice to invade. Didn’t anyone tell you that?” He let out a bitter laugh, one that sounded way too similar to his evil counterpart. “Of course not. You’re nothing but a bottomfeeder. Trash. A leech. Useless to this world.” He sneered. “You and every other human on this planet.”

“Sir?” Patrick stammered, causing Tyler to send daggers his way. “Do you remember what happened last night?” Tyler rolled his eyes and shifted his position so his feet were resting on the desk with his hands draped lazily across his chest. His jeans were tight, and his legs were long and -

Josh crossed his own legs. Now was not the time for him to be swallowed up by emotions.

“It was dark. Barakat’s work I assume?” He sounded bored, like this was a conversation he had to endure daily. Patrick nodded. “I don’t know why he tries. He can still see; I’m the one that can’t.” Tyler paused and raised a hand to his face. His head twitched before he continued speaking. “Can you please explain to me why this _thing_ is in here?” Josh tried to swallow, but the lump in his throat blocked the way.

“Pete,” Patrick instituted, raising his hands, but Tyler was throwing another glare and Patrick clamped his mouth shut. Tyler leaned back, his head tilting to the side gently as one finger brushed one of the buttons on the panel. He cleared his throat when Pete’s rough voice answered.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

“Peter? Can you please come down here?” Tyler almost sounded friendly, but it didn’t last long. “I think you have some explaining to do.”

Silence. And then Pete was stumbling over his words. “Yes Ty - Sir. Right away.” Even Pete sounded afraid of Tyler. Josh couldn’t breathe and his ribs contracted farther into his lungs.

Two minutes of waiting and the record ended, the needle scraping against the whisper of an empty song. It was an awful sound, and it did nothing to help the tone of the room. Patrick was tapping his foot against the ground and Josh was trying to look anywhere in the room but Tyler.

Tyler, graceful, beautiful, terrifying Tyler.

Josh was thankful when Pete entered through the already opened doors, his breathing uneven. He approached the side of the desk and stood straight.

“Sir.” Pete looked forward.

“Now Pete, I’m a little confused to why we have an animal loose in the building. Maybe you could tell me why?”

“Mikey left the door unlocked and he found the building. I put him in a cell. My apologies.”

“Hmm.” Tyler shifted positions once more, his feet back on the ground and his elbows rested on his desk. He went back to wringing his hands. “That’s funny, because I don’t think ‘I’m sorry’ will solve our problem. Do I need to call the exterminator?”

“I don’t think the exterminator will be much help. They met last night.” Pete was monotone, and he still refused to look at Tyler.

Tyler raised an eyebrow and stood up. He began pacing around Pete, his robe swishing around his legs. “You’re telling me that he had a run in with a human and made no attempt to kill?”

“Yes sir.”

“It’s true,” Patrick spoke up, turning away when Tyler glared at him. Josh bit his lip. He could taste the metallic luster of blood in his mouth, and maybe that was the only thing keeping him sane right now. Tyler moved away from Pete and crossed to Josh’s side, and then he was leaning so close to him that Josh could see that his dark eyes were more than dark. They were a masterpiece.

“What are you?” his voice remained the same tone, and Josh wished he would start yelling. It would be a lot less scarier than this.

“I, uh, I don’t, I’m not,” Josh stammered; he couldn’t find his footing on his words. He continued to stare into Tyler’s eyes, trying to find some sort of emotion swirling around in them.

Red. He could see red.

_Oh no._

Tyler took a step backwards, his back hitting the corner of the desk and sending a stack of papers fluttering to the ground. He raised a hand to his head, face masked in pain. _Shit shit shit._

“Get out,” Tyler growled as he bumped another stack of papers off his desk. His back hit the wall. Patrick pushed out of his chair, the scraping echoing loudly off the walls. “Get out, and lock the door.” He let out a small yell and his body curled farther in on itself. Josh was frozen, his eyes wide.

And then Tyler was screaming.

And Josh realized this was not good.

Patrick grabbed Josh by the shoulder tightly, and the three of them were darting out of the room as fast as they could, Tyler’s screams engraving themselves into the back of Josh’s brain. Pete was fumbling with the deadbolt and the chains, Patrick shouting orders quickly and loudly, and Josh just stared.

They barely had finished in time when Tyler - Not Tyler - was slamming his hands on either side of the window, a vicious smile on his face and evil in his eyes. Josh felt like he had been hit in the stomach with a car.

Pete stood hunched over, one hand against the wall as he struggled to catch his breath. Patrick had his arms wrapped around himself.

“You aren’t going to let me play with your pet?” _He_ called out loudly from behind the door. “I already called rights. I’m the one who gets to fuck him and tear his bones out of his skin.” Josh thought he was going to pee himself.

The other two men ignored the other guy and turned towards Josh instead. Josh glanced at Pete, whose right eye was twitching severely. His lips twitched up into a snarl.

Pete’s fist connected with Josh’s jaw before he understood what was happening. He was thrown against the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of him, Josh’s head slamming against the concrete. His vision was swimming with stars.

And then pain. Josh’s bones were cracking.

“YOU!” Pete spat, his hand around Josh’s neck, his vision already starting to turn white at the corners. “This is your fault! I should kill you right here. You’re a fucking idiot, ruining fucking everything! You deserve to burn in fucking hell!” Large cracks were starting to spider in the walls and the room shook.

“PETE!” Patrick hollered, tugging on Pete’s arm. “Get OFF of him!”

Pete shoved Patrick to the ground. He was too focused on making sure Josh would be nothing but a rotting corpse in the next three minutes.

Josh couldn’t breathe. Pain was running rivers in his veins and his lungs were exploding in his chest. _He_ was laughing. It was shrill, and it melted in with the skipping record to send another wave of fear through Josh’s entire body. This was it. He was going to die.

“Pete,” Patrick warned, his voice deeper and firmer than Josh had ever heard. His eyes glowed bright gold. “Get the fuck off of him.” Pete released immediately, and Josh slumped to the ground with a gasp for air. He swallowed it in large gulps, trying to fill his empty lungs with as much as possible.

“Thank you,” Josh sputtered, his voice still not fully there. Patrick wasn’t done. He pointed upstairs.

“Go upstairs and take a fucking walk outside. Don’t come back until tomorrow, because I don’t want to see you.” Patrick’s voice cracked at the end, like he wasn’t certain he meant that last part. Pete obeyed right away, and he disappeared up the stairs.

Josh was coughing hard, and he could see crimson splatters hitting the floor behind him. Patrick helped him stand up, slipping an arm around his waist.

“I’m gonna get you to Dallon, don’t worry. This isn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”

Josh couldn’t hear him.

Blurryface’s laugh was ringing in his ears.

 


	3. 003

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is blood and self (kinda, its BF though) harm in this chapter so if you don't like that stuff then probably don't read this chapter.

“We really have to stop meeting like this,” Dallon said with a sigh when Josh opened his eyes. The alarm clock on Dallon’s dresser read 3:15 am.

Josh remembered everything so clearly. Meeting Tyler, Blurryface, Pete trying to kill him, Patrick taking him to Dallon, Dallon fixing him, and so much Benadryl Josh expected to be sleeping for days. Except that Josh was awake and it was 3:15 am.

“Did you sleep?” Josh inquired as he rubbed his eyes.

“I did not. Too much worry and fear coursing through your body. I can feel everything.”

“Can’t you just heal it?”

“Doesn’t work like that sadly.” Dallon replied. “But I felt something else this time. It was stronger than anything else swimming around your head.” Josh pushed his back against the wall as he raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“What’s that?”

“Love and curiosity.”

Josh scowled. “I don’t know about the love part. I certainly think I’d know about something like that.”

“Emotions often appear before we realize they are among us. It’s all in due time Joshua.” Dallon’s face suddenly went dark. “But you need to be careful. Tyler Joseph is a powerful and complex man. You and him are like oil and water: you don’t mix. Don’t go digging around in something when you know you aren’t going to be happy with the results.”

“Don’t know why I would chase after someone who hates me and everyone like me,” Josh muttered under his breath.

“You aren’t foolish Joshua, and either am I. We both know he needs a friend. If you are going to attempt to be his friend, all I ask is that you be careful. Everyone in the building is aware of what happened yesterday. Tyler lowered his guard and the other guy stepped up to the plate.” The beginning of a smirk rose to Dallon’s lips. He ran a hand through his hair. “I could certainly feel your emotions coming from the wrong head.”

Josh ducked his head as his face turned bright red. “Those are personal.”

“My apologies. It won’t happen again.” He pushed up from the edge of the bed with a sigh. “I assume you aren’t going back to sleep anytime soon?” Josh shrugged.

“I could try. Where do you want me to sleep? You can have your bed back.”

“No no, it’s perfectly fine. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep, not with you in here and your billions of emotions swirling around your head. I’m gonna take a shower. Try and get a little more sleep ok? Your poor body needs it.”

Josh nodded his head. Dallon squeezed Josh’s shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Dallon?” Josh called out the minute Dallon turned towards the bathroom. He swiveled back around.

“Yes Joshua?”

“Thank you. For everything.” Dallon nodded his head.

“Anything you need, I’ll help you out.”

“One more thing,” Josh started. He hated how pathetic he sounded, but at the moment he really didn’t care. Josh felt safe with Dallon around. “Will you stay with me while I’m sleeping?”

“Of course. I’ll be right next to you.”

“Thank you.” Josh whispered as he buried himself further into the bed. He pulled the covers over his body and took a deep breath. The pillows smelled like Dallon’s cologne. It smelled comforting.

There was a stumble of footsteps and Dallon’s lips were suddenly pressed to Josh’s forehead. “Sleep well Joshua.”

 

\---

 

Josh awoke to Dallon’s long arms around him, heat radiating off both their bodies. Dallon was snoring softly. He looked so worn out that Josh didn’t even want to attempt to move and accidentally wake him up. He felt bad his emotions were keeping Dallon awake for long hours, but it wasn’t like he could help it. Josh was a melted liquid melancholy mess most the time.

Minutes passed and Josh’s body was beginning to become numb from the way he was laying. _Sorry Dallon,_ he thought to himself as he shifted his body weight. Dallon blinked a couple of times before sitting up. He ran a hand through his mess of bedhead and stared at Josh next to him. Suddenly his face was turning red.

“Oh my gosh, sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep like that.”

“S’Okay. I know it wasn’t like that. I asked you to stay with me.”

“I know, but I was wide awake when I sat down. I didn’t mean to -”

Josh held up a hand to interrupt Dallon. “How about we never speak of this again and call it a truce?” Dallon smiled.

“Deal.” The two shook hands. Dallon rolled off of the bed and began sifting through clothes in his dresser. He tossed Josh a blue button up shirt and a pair of jeans. “I’m not sure how well they’ll fit you, but we can go get your stuff today. I just assumed you might want to change out of the outfit you’ve been wearing for the past three days.”

Josh nodded his head. His thin T-shirt was covered in blood and dirt, and he really needed a shower. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” He immediately peeled off his shirt and shimmied into Dallon’s, his fingers fumbling with the buttons. Josh couldn’t remember the last time he had worn a shirt this nice, but he noticed it fit well. “Any idea of who’s taking me?”

“Well,” Dallon disappeared into the bathroom and came out with a pair of jeans. “I have an idea, but I know you aren’t going to like it.”

“Tyler?” Josh asked, feeling ashamed there was a little hopefulness in his voice. Dallon scoffed.

“Heavens no. Tyler is not ready to go out into a city full of humans. I was thinking more along the lines of Pete, since he’s second in command.”

Josh sighed. Great. Frickin’ great.

“Do we even know where Pete is?”

“He came back early this morning. I assume he’s with Patrick.” Josh wondered how easily Patrick was going to forgive Pete for almost killing him. He wasn’t sure if he could stand to be around Pete at the moment. “You feel guilty.”

Josh looked up from buttoning his shirt to see Dallon observing him. “Huh?”

“You feel guilty, for Tyler changing. That’s not your fault Joshua.”

Josh shrugged. “He was talking to me when it happened. Do you think it’s because I’m human? You said he and the other guy haven’t really engaged with humans since, uh, well, you know.”

“Mmm,” Dallon shifted his weight and leaned against his dresser, “Possibly, but I think something else was involved.”

“You’re not saying -”

“Not heavy emotions, but I think he was taken back by seeing a human, and an ‘attractive’ one at that. His feelings, not mine.” Josh could feel magenta spreading throughout his cheeks. Tyler thought he was attractive?

“It wasn’t your fault. And the way Pete acted was way out of control. He shouldn’t have done that. But I know Patrick is talking to him about it so we’ll see what happens.” He stood up and sat down on the spot next to Josh. “Pete’s hot headed. It’s one of his flaws. But he’s a really good guy. You just haven’t seen that side of him yet.” Dallon reached over to pat Josh’s knee and stood back up with a sigh. “I would suggest you go get some breakfast, and I’ll send Patrick to go find you.”

“Are you guys going to give me a room?”

“Of course.”

Josh took a deep breath and planned what he was going to say very carefully. “I want a room by the staircase.”

“Joshua,” Dallon warned, but Josh continued.

“I’ll be fine. Besides, you said he needed a friend. I just want to help him.”

“Your emotions around him -”

“Fuck my emotions!” Josh’s voice rose in volume as he stood from the bed. “I’m sorry, but not one good thing has happened to me since I’ve arrived here. I don’t know what it is about him, but I feel drawn to his stupid prison cell and I want to be by him in case something happens. I don’t care what happens to me. My life is shit anyways.”

“Don’t say that,” Dallon whispered, his eyes crinkling with worry. “Your life is important.”

“Like you would care. I’m just some lousy _human_.” Then Josh was slipping through the door and walking down the hallway with his hands in his pockets and his head down. Josh didn’t want to deal with any of the shit that was being placed before him.

Only there was the problem of the hallways, and they all looked the same. Josh couldn’t find the stupid dining room or even remember where Patrick’s room was or the stupid staircase.

Everything was stupid.

He had just turned a corner when a door was suddenly flying open, causing Josh to stop dead in his tracks. His heart skipped a beat when he realized who had stepped out.

His ears started ringing.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Brendon grinned as he came closer. Josh backed up. “I heard that we were getting a pet though. How exciting!”

“You can’t hurt me,” Josh whispered. “It’s not my fault I can’t leave.”

Brendon laughed loudly. “That doesn’t concern me. All I know is that you’re human and I’m not, so we are going to have some fun.”

The ringing was so loud Josh couldn’t hear himself think.

“Everything in the world gives off a frequency Joshie, don’t know if you knew that or not. I can mess with these frequencies and make your life a living hell.”

The lightbulb above their heads was letting off a small whining noise before it shattered. Brendon grinned viciously.

“For fucks sake Brendon,” a guy appeared in the doorway that Brendon had come out of, and he looked very annoyed. He was taller than Brendon, with light brown hair and a beard. The minute the ringing was reduced to a small buzz, Josh was overcome with peace. He stared at the bearded man. “Will you leave the guy alone?”

“He’s worthless to everyone here,” Brendon argued. “Are you really going to defend him?”

“He doesn’t deserve to be tortured by an asshole like you,” Bearded Guy cocked his head and pointed down the hallway. “Maybe you should take a walk. The ringing in my ears is getting a little too loud.”

Brendon shot daggers the bearded guy’s way, his jaw clenched and eyes filled with anger. “Fuck you too,” he muttered as he shoved Josh against the wall and disappeared down the hallway.

“I’m sorry about that. Brendon can be kind of asshole sometimes. My name’s Spencer.” he offered Josh a hand. “You want to come in?”

Josh swallowed and shrugged his shoulders. He felt calm around this guy, so he didn’t assume anything bad was going to happen. The two walked into Spencer’s room, and the first thing that Josh noticed was how peaceful it was.

There was a couch against one wall and a rug underneath. The walls were painted with a billion different colours, and everything was organized orderly. The bed in the corner was made.

There was also a guy wearing sunglasses that sat on the couch.

“Gabe, this is the new guy,” Spencer said nonchalantly as he walked past him and disappeared into the bathroom in the back. Josh shifted his weight from one foot to the other, unsure of where to go. He did however appreciate Spencer not referring him to “the human” like everyone else had been.

Gabe waved. Josh was a little taken a back by this guy. His face was perfectly sculptured, with high cheekbones, thick eyebrows, and full lips. “ _Hola mi amigo!_ It’s nice to meet you.”

Even his smile was flawless.

“Er, Hi.” Josh waved back awkwardly. Spencer came out of the bathroom then and took a spot next to Gabe. He gestured to the chair that was resting up against the wall.

“Have a seat!”

“Uh, ok. Right.” Josh pulled the chair over to one corner of the couch and sat down, his hands fidgeting in his lap.

“Your name is Josh right?” Spencer asked as he leaned forward. Josh nodded.

“We heard rumors of a human joining us, but I didn’t think it was true!” exclaimed Gabe as he raised an eyebrow. It was hard to see what he was feeling when he was wearing sunglasses. Josh wondered why he was wearing sunglasses indoors. Wasn’t that a famous sign that you were a douche?

“Uh yeah. I’m here to stay I guess.”

“Sorry Brendon was being an asshole. He isn’t always like that, but that’s the reason I’m here. Got to keep him in check.” Spencer grinned. “Most of us are really nice, I promise.”

Josh nodded his head. He had only run into two, well, three, people that hated him. Everyone else seemed to be ok with him being there.

“So, uh, are you and Brendon, uh,” Josh stammered, not exactly sure what he was trying to ask. Was it rude to ask if people were in a relationship? Especially if Josh was assuming they were gay?

“Yeah we are. Like I said, he’s not always an asshole.” Spencer rolled his eyes. “I love him to death, but his ego is way too big.”

Gabe snickered. “It’s true.”

Looks like Josh had been right. Everyone in this place was gay.

Maybe even him.

“So, uh, can I ask you guys what you can do maybe? It’s just that yesterday was filled with a lot of surprises and I’d rather save the trouble and shock for some other time.” Gabe’s face seemed to light up the minute he finished talking.

“Oh brother,” Spencer muttered. “You don’t ask Gabe Saporta what he does.” Gabe elbowed him playfully.

“I’ll show you a magic trick,” Gabe announced as he scooted to the end of the couch and raised his right hand. He wiggled his fingers gently, and suddenly a small grey cloud was forming in the palm of his hand. “How much do you like storms?”

“Uh,” Josh mused, blinking a couple of times to make sure he was truly seeing this. “They’re alright. I like rain.”

Gabe was grinning so tightly Josh was sure his cheekbones would pop out of his skin. “Alright, a little rain coming right up.” the miniature cloud in Gabe’s hand starting pouring, water leaking through his fingers and onto the floor below them. Spencer groaned.

“God, you’re getting water everywhere!”

“Shut up Spenc, this is cool.” the cloud sparked with electricity as a small lightning bolt hit the center of his palm, and then thunder was shaking the entire building. Josh was astounded. The guy could control storms?

“So, storms then?” Josh tried to play it off cool, but in all honesty the whole powers thing was still freaking him out.

“Storms, wind, rain, lightning, thunder, the whole shebang. I’m practically Zeus.” he beamed, a smirk rising to his lips. Spencer was rolling his eyes again.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Am not,” Gabe replied as he closed his fist. The storm cloud went away.

“Are too. You wear sunglasses indoors and you look like a douchebag.”

“I can’t help that. You know I’m a man of darkness.” He turned towards Josh. “Light doesn’t do great things for me. I promise I’m not a douchebag.”

“He is,” Spencer argued.

“Ok Mr. I-Can-Do-Everything-Better-Than-You, go ahead and show our guest your truly _amazing_ talent.” Gabe leaned back and crossed his arms, sending Spencer a challenging look.

“Alright,” Spencer replied defensively. “Pick an emotion Josh.”

“An emotion?” Josh repeated, not sure if he had heard Spencer correctly.

“Yep. A feeling. A thought. Anything.”

“Anger.” It was the first thing that had come to Josh’s mind.

And then Josh was angry.

No, Josh was furious.

He wasn’t exactly sure why he was angry, but all he knew was that he wanted to scream and yell and hit something.

“How do you feel?” Spencer inquired, a smug grin on his face.

“I really want to beat the shit out of someone,” Josh responded as he clenched a fist. And just like that, the feeling was gone. He was back to feeling calm and peaceful.

“I can control people’s emotions,” Spencer explained. “Or I can give a room a certain vibe. That’s why this room feels so calm. It’s my safe place.”

“That’s why we always hang out in here,” Gabe added.

“You’re welcome to hang out here too. I’ll kick Brendon out for a little while if you’re stressed out and need a place to hide. I can make you forget why you ever were stressed out or sad or mad in the first place.” Josh had to admit, that wasn’t a bad offer.

“Thank you. That’s really nice of you to offer.”

“Don’t mention it! I’m always willing to help a friend out.” _Friend_. Spencer had called Josh his friend. That was a first.

“I should uh, probably get going. Patrick was looking for me, I should try and go find him.” Josh stood up from his chair and wiped his sweating hands on his jeans.

“It was nice to meet you! Come visit soon!” Spencer waved goodbye.

“Yeah _mi amigo_ , come say hi.” Gabe grinned, and Josh left the room after one more goodbye.

Maybe Patrick had been right. A fresh start was something Josh could use.

 

\---

 

Josh had barely turned down another hallway (he still had no idea where he was) when his body collided with another, knocking him to the floor.

“Shit, sorry,” they said frantically and Josh realized it was Pete. He was frozen and stuck to floor. “Oh. Josh.”

Josh didn’t say anything. He just stared and prayed Pete didn’t start cracking his bones again.

“Hey, uhm,” Pete scratched the back of his head nervously. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. I was really out of line, and I’m sorry. None of that was your fault. I’m the one that messed up, not you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Josh blinked a couple of times and continued to stare at Pete.

“Josh?”

“Oh, sorry.” he shook his head and pulled himself up off the floor. “Yeah. Thanks for saying sorry.”

“I’ll try to keep my cool. Patrick really likes you, so I’m gonna try my hardest.” He sighed. “Not that he’s the reason I’m gonna start being nice to you, no, it’s just that we haven’t ever really had humans around and I don’t interact with them much and I’m really sorry. Can we start over?”

Josh nodded his head and extended his right arm. “Hi, I’m Josh. Nice to meet you.”

“Pete. Nice to meet you too.” They shared a smile before Pete dropped his hand. “Do you want to go get your stuff now?”

“Yeah. That’d be really nice.” Pete patted his back.

“Let’s go then.” He started down the hallway and Josh followed, trying to figure out a system of memorization for this frickin’ place. Maybe he’d have to draw a map or something.

Pete led him to a door with a deadbolt quite similar to the one that kept Tyler from escaping. Josh shivered as he unlocked it. It opened to the outdoors up a set of stairs.

This was the door Josh had found.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure how he had done that.

“We have a little bit of a walk to the garage,” Pete explained as they walked. Josh looked around at the giant trees around them, the foliage so thick he could barely see the sky above him. Yeah, he really didn’t know how he had managed to find this place. “We keep it farther away for security purposes.”

A white blur zoomed past Josh, leaving a breeze behind it. Josh stopped walking.

“That’s Gerard, don’t worry. Him and Mikey are doing perimeter checks.” Oh, that’s right. That was to make sure no other humans wandered into the building.

“Are there any animals that can tear me apart in these woods?” Josh asked when they continued walking, his voice shaky and his eyes trying to look everywhere at once. Pete snorted.

“The scariest thing in these woods is us.”

That wasn’t comforting to Josh.

After ten more minutes of walking and the occasional conversation, Pete suddenly stopped and crouched down next to a patch of grass. He flicked out his pocket knife and dug it into the earth, feeling around until he found an old, worn out handle. Pete pulled and it groaned loudly, revealing a ladder that disappeared into darkness.

Why did everything in this place disappear into darkness? That couldn’t be safe.

“You’re going down first,” Pete stated, pointing. Josh shook his head.

“Uh, no, that’s ok.”

Pete grunted. “Now.”

Josh stared at Pete for a few seconds before giving up and warily taking a step down the ladder. He gripped the edges tightly before making his descent down.

“Flip the lightswitch when you get down there. It’s to your right.”

The minute Josh’s feet touched solid ground he felt for the light and flipped it on. The room buzzed with electricity and the lights flickered on above him; Josh stared in disbelief. The garage was filled with about ten _extremely_ nice cars. Pete’s grunt alerted his arrival.

“Black camaro farthest down.”

“No way,” Josh breathed. That was a _nice_ car.

“Yes way. And if you as much as breathe wrong on it I will hurt you.”

“Noted.”

Pete unlocked the car and slid into the driver’s seat, Josh following on the passenger side. He was afraid to breathe in a car this nice. Pete revved the engine and pulled out smoothly down a long corridor. They traveled in darkness and silence before the car was barreling down a country road and making a sharp turn onto the cracked asphalt.

“You guys really know what you’re doing,” Josh tried to make small talk as they drove. He stared out the window and tried not to move.

“Jesus Christ Josh, relax. You aren’t going to hurt the car by sitting on the seat like a normal person.” Pete shook his head and Josh let his body slide down into the leather. “But yeah, we do. We’ve been here for years.”

“Are there others like you? Like other groups?” They passed a sign that said the speed limit was 50, and Pete was booking it far past 80. Josh gulped. He really hoped Pete knew what he was doing.

“Yeah, we’re scattered all over the place. I’m not sure where the closest group is to us.” He pressed his lips into a thin line. “I’ve heard rumors they aren’t very nice people.” Josh refrained from saying something along the lines of “Yeah well either are a few of you.”

“What do you mean?” he said instead.

“I’ve heard through the grapevine that they’re doing stuff. Kidnapping humans, using them, torturing them, killing them. I’m not sure for what. But it really isn’t our business to go figure out if that’s true or not.” Pete shrugged. “Besides, I don’t think any of us even know where that other clan is.”

Josh wrapped his arms around himself. If that was true, then it was a sure good thing he hadn’t walked into that one. Torture did not sound fun.

“We don’t really engage with other groups. If someone sees a lone talent, they call them in and they join us. There’s really no need for us to talk to other groups.”

“You call yourselves talents?” Josh asked, his face twisted in contortion. That was stupid.

“Well yeah. That’s what we have so it makes sense.” Pete paused before turning to look at Josh. “What did you think we were called?”

“Uhm, well, supers.” He rubbed his head awkwardly and tried to hide his flushed face. Pete burst into loud laughter, causing Josh’s blush to deepen.

“Jesus Christ Josh, we aren’t super heroes. Supers. Pfft. Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Josh agreed with the stupid part.

When they reached city limits, Josh directed Pete through the streets to his apartment complex. He chewed on his lip in worry, hoping those two very scary looking large men weren’t still hanging out. It had been three days, maybe they had given up. He really hoped they had given up.

“You ok kid? Your heart’s going crazy there.”

“Can everyone hear my heartbeat? Is it really that loud?” Josh was getting a little annoyed with everyone knowing when he was afraid.

“We’ve got enhanced hearing and eyesight. I can hear every human’s heartbeat within a five mile radius. But yours is the loudest at the moment. So what’s up?”

“You remember how I told you I went inside because I was being chased? Because I was in some bad business and now these men want to kill me and I think they may be waiting for me to come back so they can off me.”

Pete stared at Josh, trying to let the information absorb in his head. “What bad business can an idiot like you get into?”

“Drugs,” Josh responded quietly, his eyes flickering around the car. He was making sure nobody had recognized him. “I was 21 and I was stupid and I did some drugs and I hauled others and then I left because I couldn’t do it anymore and I thought I had gotten away but now they’re here to kill me.”

“They’re here to kill you,” Pete repeated.

“They’re here to kill me.”

Pete turned off the engine and sighed. “Ok, then we don’t let them kill you.”

“How do we do that?”

“Dude, you have me now. Let’s see them try and kill you when their bones are cracking in half.” He did have a point.

“Ok, yes, good plan.”

“We go to your place, you get what you need and I’ll distract whoever is there. _If_ there are people there.” Josh took a deep breath and nodded his head.

They both got out of the car and approached Josh’s building carefully. There wasn’t any sign that thugs were around - no big white vans or rusted pick up trucks. Josh hoped that was a sign. He led the way up the stairs and down to the back of the building where his apartment sat; his breathing hitched when he saw the lock was broken and the door was cracked. Pete noticed and placed a hand in front of Josh.

Neither one of dared to breathe as Pete pushed open the door into Josh’s tiny living room.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Josh thought he was going to faint.

Two men, different men than last time but equally as scary were leaning against the wall; one was smoking. Pete’s hand twitched, and suddenly one of the men was on the floor screaming and writhing in pain. Cracks started forming in the walls.

“Go!” Pete yelled, and Josh dashed into his bedroom. He pulled a duffel bag from under his bed and began stuffing all the contents from his dresser and closet into it. He wasn’t paying attention to what he was putting in the bag and he didn’t care. Josh grabbed his toothbrush and other bathroom necessities and rushed back into his room, his eyes scanning it frantically. He reached under the mattress to reveal a large wad of cash and stuffed it in his pocket. That was the money he had been saving for that stupid expensive drumset with the sleek black finish, the stupid one he knew he would never be able to afford. Now he wasn’t going to have any drumset and that left a huge hole in his heart.

The men were still yelling in pain outside; Pete was telling him to hurry. The walls were starting to shake and the cracks had reached his bedroom.

The building was going to cave in on itself.

Josh acted fast, swiping his drum sticks, his favourite pair that had been beat to hell and shoved them in his bag. He grabbed a hat on his way out of his bedroom.

Pete shoved him out of the apartment, his hand still in front of him. The ground was shaking and Josh could hear the people in other apartments starting to leave in fear.

“I fucked up,” Pete muttered as he pulled Josh down the stairs and to the car. There was a loud ripping noise and Josh watched in horror and the ground buckled in on itself, splitting the apartment building directly in half. Dust and debris was everywhere and Josh wondered how many people got hurt.

“Pete -”

“Get in the car Josh. We have to leave.” Josh obeyed and climbed in. There were cracks everywhere; some of them even went so far down the street Josh couldn’t see an end. He gulped.

There was a couple minutes of silence before Pete was sighing loudly. “I’m sorry Josh, that got a little out of control. I didn’t mean to bring the building down. I was so focused on distracting and I didn’t realize how bad things were getting.”

“It’s ok.” Josh’s apartment hadn’t been the greatest by far. The heating was broken and his showers were always cold and it was small and cramped, but it had been what he called home. “I just hope everyone got out safely.”

“Oh my god,” Pete said mortified. He banged his head on the steering wheel. “I could have gotten someone killed! A family! Kids!”

“No no no, I’m sure everyone is fine,” Josh tried to comfort him, but he wasn’t exactly sure where to start. “There weren’t any families that lived in the building anyways. It was mostly poor kids and drug addicts.”

Pete sighed with relief. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok Pete. I could have gotten killed if it wasn’t for you, so thanks.”

Silence. No one said a word as Pete drove through town. He suddenly turned a sharp corner and Josh’s hands smacked the dashboard. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to get you a new drumset,” Pete retorted, his eyes focused on the road.

“What?” Josh asked dumbfoundedly. How did Pete even know?

“I saw the drumsticks in your bag. And considering I just took down an entire building and destroyed yours, I figured we would get you a new one. It’d give you something to do back home anyways.”

“Oh, no, you really don’t have to do that.” Josh hated when people bought him things. He hated it. He could work hard and get the money himself; he also hated feeling like he owed somebody something.

“Josh, please let me do this. I’m the one who ruined your life. And I almost killed you yesterday so there’s that. I just want to do something nice for somebody for once in my life.” Pete looked like he was about to cry, and Josh did not want to deal with that.

“Ok. Sure. Thank you. But it has to be cheap.” Pete didn’t answer.

Josh wondered how he knew where the music store in this city even was. Had Pete been here before?

His answer came when they entered the store, and Pete’s eyes flickered over to a shiny black bass guitar.

“You play?” Josh asked, surprised. He thought Pete’s hobbies were intimidation and breaking bones.

“Uh, I used to yeah. Not so much anymore. I don’t have a lot of free time. I have one at home though.” He scratched behind his ear. “Anyways, let’s find you that drumset.”

Josh knew he shouldn’t even look at the expensive drumset that sat in the back with the sleek black finish. The stupid expensive drumset he had eight hundred dollars saved up for burning a hole in his pocket.

“This one is nice,” Pete suggested. And _oh no_. It was that one.

“Yeah,” Josh said with a shrug. “Not my thing.”

“You’re a bad fucking liar, I hope you know that.”

Josh sighed. “It’s too expensive Pete. Can we just drop it?”

“How much?” Pete rested a hand on Josh’s shoulder.

“What?”

“How much do you have saved for it?”

“Why do you assume -”

“Answer the fucking question, _please_.”

“Eight Hundred.”

“I’ll pay the rest. And you aren’t going to fight me on this or I’ll break your arm.” Josh couldn’t help but to smile.

“Ok, ok. Thank you. Thank you so much.” he pulled Pete into a hug.

A fresh start.

 

\---

 

Josh sat in his new bedroom surrounded by clothes and drum parts. He was piecing the set together, humming happily.

Mikey had helped take the set back home. It was much easier than trying to fit it all in Pete’s car, trying to carry it up and ladder, and struggle to hold it a mile back home. It looked like teleportation had its benefits.

Patrick had revealed that his room was right next to the staircase, as requested, and the set was already inside. Josh had taken an hour long shower, letting dirt, blood, and grime run off of him and swirl down the drain. He brushed his teeth twice, shaved, and changed into his own clothes. Snapback placed on his head, he finally felt like himself. Things were going to be ok.

There was a knock on his door and Josh stood up, wiping his hands on his jeans before going to open it. They were knocking over and over again loudly.

“I’m coming, jeez. Hold on,” he yelled.

It was Pete.

“I’m not sure how much you’re going to like this, but Tyler would uh, like to see you.”

_Tyler._

_Oh._

“He wants to see me?” Josh echoed. Pete nodded.

“You might want to hurry. He doesn’t like to wait.” Josh bit his lip and closed the door behind him. He stared at the staircase.

“By myself?”

“That’s what he said.”

“What if he -”

“Leave the door wide open. If he shows any sign of anything wrong, you get the fuck out of there and deadbolt it.” Josh nodded.

Tyler wanted to see him. Alone.

Alright then.

He began to descend the stairs, one hand against the wall for support. Now that he knew what was down here, it wasn’t as exciting. Actually, Josh was pretty freaking terrified.

When he reached the end of the stairs, Josh took a couple of deep breaths to collect himself. Then he unlocked the door and pulled it wide open.

Tyler’s feet were laying on his desk, his hands draped lazily over his chest. He raised an eyebrow when Josh entered.

“I was beginning to think you’d be too scared to come.”

“No.” Josh replied quietly. He was certain Tyler could hear his heart beating a mile a minute. Josh noticed different things about the room this time, like the fact that there was a little kitchen area in one of the back corners, and doors on either side, probably for a bedroom and maybe a bathroom. The record player was playing something classical, gentle piano music filling the room. Tyler shifted his position to lean his elbows on the desk. He began to wring his hands (which were still coated in black.) Josh wondered if that was a nervous tick of his. If so, why was he nervous?

“Have a seat Josh. We have stuff to talk about.” Josh slid into the chair facing Tyler and attempted to swallow the lump in his throat.

“What do you want to talk about?” Josh questioned. Tyler tilted his head.

“You’ve met the other guy. You had an entire conversation with him.”

“Well, I mean, it was a one sided conversation. I didn’t say much.”

Tyler narrowed his eyes. “But he didn’t attempt to touch you.”

“That’s correct.”

“How did you do that?”

Josh shook his head. “I didn’t do anything. Maybe he was surprised, I don’t know. But he just talked about all the people he’s killed.”

“We’ve killed,” Tyler corrected. He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m saying. He sees a human, he kills it. We kill it. It’s in our nature.”

“You aren’t the one doing it. You can save. That’s what they told me.”

“Everything I want to save I kill,” Tyler murmured. He seemed to be someplace else. Then he bent down and pulled out two roses from a desk drawer. One was bright red, the other was crumpled and an ugly shade of brown. The flower also had a small slip of paper around the stem; Josh assumed that was so he didn’t accidentally bring it back to life.

“Maybe you need a visual. This is alive, and this one is dead. How do you think this rose died?”

“Old age?” Josh guessed, even though he knew the right answer. Tyler scoffed.

“I left it out, and he picked it up. He’s drawn to the energy living things let off. So I’m going to ask you one last time: what did you do?”

“I don’t see what the big deal is. So what he didn’t touch me one time? It isn’t like I’ve come in direct contact with him again.” Anger flickered across Tyler’s dark eyes, and suddenly Josh was being lifted out of his chair and thrown into a wall. Tyler snarled at him, one hand grasping at his neck. He leaned in close until his face was inches away from Josh’s.

“I’m losing my patience Joshua.”

“Well, we at least are gaining something,” Josh replied monotone. He wasn’t exactly sure what compelled him to say that when he knew this guy could murder him in seconds.

Tyler opened his mouth to say something, his jaw clenched. Then he shut it immediately and let off, resorting to pacing the room instead.

“How hard is one simple question for you to answer?”

“I have answered. I did absolutely nothing. Maybe you should ask him why and find out.”

Tyler was storming back over to Josh, still furious. He pointed a finger at him. “Do not test me. I can kill you in seconds.”

“Maybe you can, but the other guy won’t.”

Tyler’s fist connected with Josh’s jaw. Josh let out a loud groan of pain. “Jesus, what was that for?”

“I do not have time to deal with a bottom feeder like you. Knock it off with the smart ass monologue.”

“Just one question,” Josh moved his aching jaw around before continuing, “Do you swing that way?”

Tyler stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I was just wondering, ‘cause the other guy sure wants to bang me or something.” Tyler swung his fist again and this time Josh ducked. Tyler’s fist connected with the wall. He hissed in pain and began shaking his fingers.

“I’m not going to discuss my sexuality with a stranger.”

Josh held up his hands in defense. “Alright, I’m sorry.” Tyler turned towards him, approaching Josh until they were face to face again. Josh stared at his lips. _If he only leaned it a little more closer..._

Tyler was breathing heavily as he stared at Josh. They stood in silence.

And then Tyler moved like he had been hit with a car.

Josh took a step to the side, every inch of his body filling with worry. Tyler grunted in pain as he doubled over. “You should probably leave.”

“What can I do?” Josh moved closer and Tyler threw out a hand.

“Get out.”

“Fight it!” Josh raised his voice. “Make him go away!”

“It...doesn’t...work -” Tyler growled and let out a small scream. “like that.”

Josh knew he should be running and locking the door. He knew that being in the same room with an insane psychopath was a terrible idea and was certainly not something people thought about doing. But he couldn’t leave.

Tyler was laughing.

No, not Tyler.

Josh was met with crimson and malice.

“Finally. I was wondering when he would let me talk to you.” He smiled and sat down at the desk, propping his feet up. A hand reached for the bright red rose, and Josh watched as it turned into a crumbling dark mess. “How are you doing today Josh? You’re looking beautiful. Cleaner, well trimmed.”

Josh didn’t answer.

He clucked his tongue. “It’s rude to ignore people.”

“I think I’m obliged to ignore crazy sex driven super villains.”

Not-Tyler laughed loudly. “Come on Joshie, we all have people we find attractive. I can’t be the only one who wants to fuck you.” His eyes flickered across the room before his voice raised an octave and in a singsong tone he continued. “Tyler does too.”

Josh’s breathing hitched.

“Tyler isn’t allowed to touch you because you’re mine, so don’t get your hopes up. Which reminds me, have you thought about my offer?”

“Why haven’t you tried to kill me yet?” Josh ignored the question and asked his own instead.

Not-Tyler gasped in fake horror. “Why would I want to kill you? You’re my play toy. Why would I get rid of something so delicious?”

“You want to kill everything living. Tyler said so.”

He rolled his eyes. “Tyler this, Tyler that. Forget about Tyler. He’s not here right now. Tyler doesn’t matter.” He stood up from the desk and moved closer to Josh, a large smirk on his face. Josh squeezed his eyes shut.

“You should really leave him alone. It’s not nice to invade people’s homes. Or you know, his basic thoughts and feelings.” Josh was surprised at his own bravery.

Not-Tyler was so close Josh could feel his breath on his face. Why wasn’t he trying to kill him? “Tyler is weak, Josh. I am strong. Whoever is strongest wins.” He leaned closer. “Tyler is a dead man walking.”

Josh moved across the room in two steps. Blurry sighed loudly. “You’re making this so much more harder than it needs to be.”

“You don’t own me.”

Bitter laughter filled the room. “Of course I do Joshie. Do you think I’m stupid?” Josh resorted back to silence. “I have Tyler’s body in my control, and you want his body. If you do anything with him, you’re doing it with me. So I own you. Besides, I’m not sure if I want my pleasure to be with a little bitch. Maybe stay away from Tyler huh?”

“You don’t know anything,” Josh spat. He took a few steps closer. Not-Tyler held up a finger.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You know, I can feel Tyler struggling to take control again. He’s trying so hard, and I think you might be helping. So here’s what we are going to do.” he reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a pocket knife with a wicked smile. Horror flashed across Josh’s face.

“Don’t.”

“You know Josh, you can say whatever you want but it doesn’t mean anything to me. You’re worthless. I am a God. You are here to do what I say. I say dance, and you dance. I say jump, and you jump.” Josh tried to move and he flicked the knife open. The point was placed on the crook of his elbow. He pressed down so hard a few drops of red slid down his arm. “Funny thing, I can’t feel anything. Me doing this, it’s actually pleasurable. It’s sure hurting Tyler though, and I find that hilarious. Don’t you agree?”

“Stop,” Josh pleaded. He didn’t dare move.

“You don’t even know Tyler. You don’t know the things he’s done, said, written. Why do you care so much?”

“Because he’s just important as every other person on the planet.” _And I’m fascinated by him._

He laughed. “You’re pathetic. No one on this planet is important.” Josh watched him drag the knife down to his wrist, blood pouring out like a waterfall. It began to spill on the floor. “I know Tyler. He’s just as evil as me.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not Joshie, I’m really not. He’s an awful person who deserves to die. Look at all the people he killed.”

“You killed them!” Josh screamed, his anger bubbling out over the sides. “You’re the one doing everything. He’s just trying to live his life!”

The knife dug deeper. Josh wanted to throw up.

“The human race is a mess. I can’t believe you’ve managed to keep a conversation with me for this long.” Maleficent laughter surrounded them. It covered every inch of Josh’s body, some even managing to soak through his skin. That was Josh’s breaking point.

“GET OUT OF HIM!”

He stared at Josh, frozen in time. The knife slipped out of his hand, and Tyler’s eyes were rolling to the back of his head as he dropped to the floor.

Josh was at his side in seconds. Tyler was unconscious.

But he was okay.


	4. 004

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for leaving nice comments!

Josh knew Dallon was going to be pissed at him, but that wasn’t important now. What was important was that Dallon got downstairs and stopped Tyler from bleeding out.

He stared at the black buttons on the panel behind Tyler’s desk, his eyes scanning the names next to them until he found Dallon’s.

“Tyler? Is something wrong?” Dallon answered immediately, his voice thick with worry. Josh cleared his throat.

“Dallon? It’s Josh. You have to come down here right now. Tyler’s hurt pretty bad and I don’t know what to do.”

“Joshua,” his voice sounded stricter, “what did you do?”

“Just hurry! It’s an emergency.”

“I’m on my way.”

Josh went back to staring at Tyler sprawled on the floor and crouched down next to him. He didn’t want to touch him in case there was something broken or hurt on the inside.

When Dallon arrived, Josh waved him over. Dallon observed the scene with a sigh before sitting on his knees and wrapping his hand around the cut in Tyler’s arm. He squeezed gently.

“Please tell me what happened.”

“Tyler wanted to talk to me,” Josh started, hysteria creeping into his voice. “I came down, and we talked, but then he switched over and I was so scared something was going to happen, but I didn’t move. And he kept saying all these horrible, awful things, and then he started hurting himself, because he can’t feel it but he knows Tyler can, and, and -” Josh choked, feeling his throat get stuck. He was trying so hard not to cry.

“Blurryface visited?” Dallon asked quietly. He stayed calm.

“Yes. And I asked him why he wasn’t killing me, because everyone has been telling me he kills everything, and he said he wouldn’t kill something so...” Josh trailed off and took a deep breath. “He really wants me. Like sexually. And it’s freaking me out. He keeps saying all these awful things.”

“Well I’ve never heard that before.”

“He’s possessive, and he hates Tyler so much, he wants to kill him, he tried but -”

“You stopped him,” Dallon finished. He narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to focus on something. “Joshua, I don’t know what you did, but I can’t feel him right now. He’s not even trying to take over. It’s like his presence is completely gone.”

Josh blinked. “I told him to leave and he did. He left!”

“I think he’s afraid of you,” whispered Dallon. He took a deep breath. “You have to stay with Tyler. He’s safe around you. For now at least. I have no doubt Blurryface will try and make a comeback, but for right now...”

“I don’t think Tyler likes me very much,” Josh said blatantly. He looked at Tyler.

Beautiful, graceful, terrifying Tyler.

“Doesn’t matter if he likes you or not. You’re doing wonders for him, he should thank you.” He pulled his hand away from Tyler’s arm; it was sticky with blood. “Can you take him into the bedroom over there? I’m going to go wash my hands and I’ll bring a towel to clean him up.” Josh nodded. He bent down and shifted Tyler into his arms.

It surprised him that Tyler wasn’t very heavy. He hadn’t expected the man to weigh a thousand tons, but he felt light.

Tyler’s room was just as creepy as the rest of the place. His bedroom was plain - the walls were white and covered in writing. There was an unmade bed, a single chair, and another smaller desk covered in scattered papers. Josh laid him down in the middle of the bed, propping his injured arm on a pillow. Then he pulled the covers over his body just enough to give him some warmth. Tyler’s face was twisted in pain, his breathing shallow, and Josh didn’t like it one bit. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gently rested his fingertips on top of one of Tyler’s hands.

Josh inspected the black stuff that now covered his fingers when he pulled away. He wondered why Tyler had that on his hands. He wondered what it was. Paint? Charcoal?

“Here,” Dallon said appearing behind them, causing Josh to jump. He took the wet towel from Dallon  with a small "thank you" and began rubbing away the leftover blood off Tyler’s arm.

“He doesn’t even look peaceful,” Josh commented. “It’s like he’s having nightmares. You said he wasn’t fighting the other guy right?”

Dallon nodded. “No trace of the other guy anywhere. I can barely feel him right now. That’s a good thing. Maybe he can finally have a break. You’ll stay with him down here?”

“Of course,” Josh responded, continuing to gently caress Tyler’s arm. He noticed the black stuff was starting to come off his arm with the blood. Josh didn’t think Tyler would like that very much.

“I’ll tell Pete what happened. We are going to have to do a sweep of all weapons he has in here. Nobody certainly wants that to happen again.” Josh nodded. “And Joshua?”

“What?”

“Next time we meet, let’s have no one be injured, ok?”

Josh chuckled softly. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Dallon smiled before turning to leave, and then it was just Josh and Tyler.

Alone.

Josh stared at Tyler. The room was quiet, besides the faint piano music still playing from the record player across the room. To anyone passing by, it might have seemed peaceful. Except Josh knew this place was far from peaceful.

He decided to settle in the chair at the other corner of the room after finishing cleaning up Tyler. It allowed him to make sure he was ok, and if Tyler woke up, Josh wouldn’t be too close for Tyler to freak out about him being there.

Josh was fascinated with Tyler. Everything about him was intriguing: the way he dressed, the way he acted, the way he moved. Tyler was beautiful.

Even now, seeing the way his chest moved up with every breath and how Tyler’s hair was slightly tousled and how his mouth was opened partly and how his eyes were squeezed shut, well, Josh couldn’t help himself. He stood up and walked back over to the bed.

If Tyler know Josh was watching him right now, he had no doubt he’d get punched in the face or get daggers thrown his way.

Tyler’s shirt sleeve started to ride up when he shifted, revealing black bands that went all the way around his upper arm. Josh traced his finger gently across them. Even his tattoos were fascinating. Tyler was wearing all black today. If Josh had to guess, he’d guess Tyler’s whole wardrobe was probably black, which was perfectly okay. That was definitely his colour.

A few minutes passed and Josh let out a sigh. This was creepy. He shouldn’t be doing this. He shouldn’t even be in the same room with this guy. Tyler was a stranger, Josh had only been here for four days, and Tyler hated Josh. But Josh couldn’t leave Tyler, one because he told Dallon he would stay, and two because something could happen and if something happened and Josh wasn’t there then Tyler could die and Josh did not want Tyler to die.

So he went back to watching Tyler in the wooden chair in the corner of the room. Josh wasn’t sure how long he watched Tyler shift in his sleep or make a small sound or even flinch, but he knew it was a long time. His legs were starting to become numb but he didn’t want to stand up, didn’t even want to _move,_ in case something happened. He had to be there in case something happened.

“Josh?”

His eyes flew open and he was stumbling to the floor, head bumping the wall on the way down. Tyler’s dark eyes stared at him.

“Tyler,” Josh sighed with relief as he rubbed his head. “You’re alright. Sorry, I fell asleep. Didn’t mean to do that.”

“Were you watching me sleep?” Tyler raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Josh shook his head.

“No, no, I, uh, you -” Josh stopped and took a deep breath. He always seemed to be stumbling over his words around Tyler.

Josh was an idiot.

“Dallon asked me to stay with you. You had an accident.”

Tyler scoffed and slid off the bed. He pulled open his closet door and removed a thin black T-shirt from a hanger. Josh watched his every move.

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Do you remember what happened?” Josh pushed himself off of the floor and leaned against the wall, still watching Tyler.

And then Tyler was taking off his shirt, and Josh stopped breathing.

The first thing he noticed was the long scar that ran across his abdomen. The second was that Tyler worked out. A lot. The third were the rectangle boxes engraved into his skin at the top of his chest. Tyler was _beautiful._

Josh was thankful for tight jeans.

The two men locked eyes for a few seconds, and then Tyler was scowling. He turned around and slipped into his clean shirt.

“Of course I remember. You were an idiot and didn’t leave. I could have killed you.”

“It wasn’t you,” Josh shrugged.

“Stop acting like I have a secret twin or something. Of course it was me. It’s _my_ body. They’re _my_ hands. It’s _my_ voice.”

“Can you see everything that’s happening when he’s in control?”

Tyler sighed, twisting his hands together. “Yeah I can.”

“So then you know what happened.”

Tyler was inches away from Josh, his eyes flickering up and down his body. When had he gotten so close?

“I know you almost got me killed.” Anger flashed across his face.

“Almost got you killed? I saved your life! I made him go away!”

He scoffed. “If you would have left in the first place, he would have had no need to put on a show. I wouldn’t have gotten my arm ripped open.”

“If I would have left, you would still be fighting him, and I know you would be losing.” Tyler grabbed a fist full of Josh’s shirt and leaned in as close as he could without touching. Josh resisted the urge to kiss him and made eye contact instead.

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know everything your _friend_ told me about you. You know what he said. I was only trying to help.”

“I don’t need help from a human. You’re worthless to me.”

“But I’m not worthless to him.”

Tyler bared his teeth, and Josh knew he was pissing him off more and more. He was enjoying making him furious.

“He keeps telling me I’m his. That he owns me. And that’s why he won’t kill me.” Josh smiled. Surprisingly, he wasn’t scared.

“I’ll be the one to kill you,” Tyler spat. Josh shook his head.

“Don’t think you want to be worse than that guy, huh?” Tyler raised his other fist to swing, but he let it drop. Josh used his silence to keep talking. “Look Tyler, I don’t know what’s going on. I’m nothing special. Three days ago I discovered there were people living in the woods with these strange powers. That’s really frickin’ terrifying. But here’s the thing. We haven’t even been on one date and there’s enough sexual tension in this room for forty people.”

Tyler hit him this time. Hard.

“Jesus Christ, for someone so skinny you sure have a hard swing.” Josh groaned as Tyler began pacing the room.

“You are quite possibly the worst person I have ever met. Is everything a joke to you Josh? Are you taking anything seriously? Because this is serious. I don’t have time to deal with your smart ass replies.”

“I bet you say that to all your prisoners.”

“You know what?” Tyler pointed a finger a Josh and took one long stride back over to him. He went back to grabbing his shirt. “Fine. You want me to admit it? Fine. Ok. Alright. Yes Josh, yes. You are a very attractive person. But you have a shit personality.”

Josh cheered. “I knew it! I knew it.” Tyler shoved him away.

“Honestly. You’re a child.”

Josh shrugged. “I can see past that facade of yours you know. You act all tough and scary but you yourself are terrified. You want someone to help you.”

“You don’t know what I want. And I’m done talking to you. Get out.”

He didn’t say anything, just held up his hands in a defensive manner and left the room.

Josh didn’t even bother locking the doors.

 

\---

 

Josh had been wandering the hallways for ten minutes now.

Ten minutes and he still couldn’t find the damn dining room.

He was going to have to make a map or something because this ‘wandering until I find something’ was not going to work. Josh sighed loudly as he turned back around. He swore he had already gone down this hallway. There was nobody even around for him to ask. Problem was, Josh didn’t want to ask anyone. If he asked someone then they would probably make a stupid joke about humans not knowing anything and then insult him. Probably.

“Hey!”

 _Holy shit,_ Josh thought. That was a girl’s voice. He turned around to see a very small redhead skipping his way. She smiled. When she got closer, Josh could tell something was strange about her. The girl’s hair kept changing colour, cycling through blues and blondes and greens and browns. Josh blinked.

“Hello.”

“I don’t think we’ve met! I’m Hayley!” she held out her hand and Josh was cautious to touch her. Hayley’s eyes turned green. And then blue.

What was going on?

“Josh. Nice to meet you.”

“I was wondering when I would get to meet a human! This is so exciting!” she squealed, waving her hands all over the place. Josh watched her eyes and hair continue to flicker through colours. “They don’t let me out much because I have a hard time keeping things from changing colours. That usually freaks people out. Is it freaking you out?”

“Nope,” Josh lied.

“Oh good. You want to see what I can do?” her smile was so big Josh couldn’t possibly say no.

“Sure. Go for it.” And then Hayley was morphing into a perfect replica of Josh.

Josh's jaw dropped when he realized he was looking at himself. She had gotten every single thing right down to the hat on his head. His hair, his nose, his eyes - even the bruise on his jaw Tyler had given him.

"I have a hard time doing piercings or jewelry, but everything else I can pretty much do perfectly." She - he - she smiled. Josh shook his head. _His_ voice from her mouth!

"Do I really sound like that?" He asked, unsure of what else to say. This was certainly the weirdest thing he had seen since coming here.

Hayley laughed, and God, that was _his_ laugh! "Nobody really likes hearing themselves talk. Don't worry, I like your voice. It's very nice."

"Can you shape into anyone?"

"Yeah, as long as I see them first. You want to see someone in particular?" She raised an eyebrow, but it was like watching himself in the mirror. He was seeing angles of himself he didn’t even see in a mirror and frankly, Josh didn't like this at all.

"Dude you have to stop being me. This is freaking me out." Josh was happy when she laughed again and it was her own.

"Sorry. I know a lot of people don't like that." She then shifted into Dallon. Josh rubbed his eyes.

"Oh my God, that is so strange!"

"Dallon's tall and I'm extremely short, so this is a nice change." Dallon's pretentious college professor voice was ringing in his ears and it wasn't even _Dallon_.

Then she was shifting back to herself, and Josh let out a sigh of relief. Shape shifter. That was a new one.

"This is what I actually look like, but it's hard to maintain this exactly. I have to focus really hard to keep things normal. I don't even know what colour my eyes actually are. But it is what it is I guess."

"That's got to be really useful."

"You should see some of the pranks I pulled. It's the best, especially on gullible people. Like Keegan. Have you meet Keegan?"

"I don't think so."

Hayley gasped. "Oh my god, you have to meet him. Come on!" Then she was taking him by the hand and dragging him down the hallway. Josh wondered if it'd be weird to ask her to take him to the dining room.

Hayley pulled open on a door to reveal a small gym. There were a bunch of exercise machines and an area full of mats for yoga or whatever else people wanted to use it for. Two people were already in the room: a girl with dark brown hair partly shaved on one side lifting weights and a taller blonde haired guy running on the treadmill.

“This place has a gym?” Josh asked surprisingly. He wondered what else it had.

“Sure does!” she grinned, pulling him farther in. “Oh! Lynn is here!”

The brown haired girl looked over and a large smile spread across her face. She waved. “Hi Hayley!”

“That’s my roommate,” Hayley explained. “She can adapt from simple touch. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll have her show you.”

Lynn approached them and held out a hand. Josh gripped it firmly. “Nice to finally meet you Josh.”

“You know my name?”

She nodded. “Things spread fast around here. You certainly aren’t what I thought you’d look like.”

“Oh,” Josh replied. He wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.

“Show him what you can do! His eyes get all big and it’s adorable!” Hayley squealed, bouncing up and down. Lynn nodded her head. She leaned behind and touched the wall, the metal texture spreading up her arm until it was the same exact material. Josh gaped.

“Wow, Hayley’s right!” Lynn started laughing and the colour drained away from her arm. Josh attempted to wipe the astonishment off his face.

“You can do that with anything?”

“Yep. Wood, metal, mud - anything along those lines. It has to be solid though.”

“What are you guys talking about?” The three of them turned to face the new voice that came into the mix. The blonde guy wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and smiled politely.

“This is Josh. He’s new.” exclaimed Hayley as she pointed at Josh. She then reciprocated the gesture to the blonde guy. “Josh, this is Keegan.”

“Oh! You’re Josh! Hello!” Keegan beamed. Josh noticed he was bouncing up and down, but he didn’t seem to realize that he was.

“Uh, Hi.”

“Keegan is solar powered,” Hayley teased, punching his shoulder playfully. Keegan rolled his eyes.

“Not really. But the sun plays a role in what I can do.”

“So, you’re like the opposite of Gabe?” Josh questioned with a tilt of his head. Keegan shrugged.

“Kind of. Him and I don’t really get along.” He paused to make sure Josh was still following. “I can’t control light, but I can capture it, and I have a lot of energy when it’s bright outside. When it’s stormy, it’s like I have a hangover. And Gabe loves making it storm.”

“Keegan makes everything brighter,” Hayley added with a smile. He snorted.

“Whatever.”

“So Josh, have you met everyone here?” Lynn inquired. Josh shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I think so. So far I keep seeing new faces everyday. Which reminds me: could you guys possibly take me to the dining area? I keep getting lost in the place.”

Hayley giggled. “Yeah, this place is confusing, but you’ll get used to it. I’ll take you.”

After saying goodbye, Hayley led Josh out of the gym and down a hallway. Once again, Josh tried his hardest to remember where he had to turn.

The dining room was bustling with activity when they arrived, which was strange because it wasn’t mealtime. Josh was curious if something was wrong. He spotted Pete and Patrick across the room talking with Mikey, Gerard, and someone Josh had never seen before. Guess he hadn’t met everyone.

“I’m going to head back. Will you be ok on your own?”

“Yeah, I’ll be ok. Thanks for your help, and introducing me to your friends.”

“Anytime!” the redhead reached over and pulled Josh into a hug. He squeezed back, surprise crossing his face. He really hadn’t expected that.

Josh decided that he very much like Hayley and planned on talking to her again.

Then she was skipping away, and Josh was navigating through tables and laughter to Patrick. He pulled up a chair next to the group.

“Hey Josh! How are you?” Patrick leaned over and patted his arm. Pete raised a hand.

“Is something wrong? There’s a lot of people here.”

“What, we aren’t allowed to converse?” Mikey quipped. Gerard rolled his eyes.

“Nothing’s wrong. This is just the biggest room in the building so we usually talk here.” he seemed to notice Josh was staring at the unknown face at the table and jabbed a thumb over. “This is Frank by the way.” Frank wiggled his fingers. Great, another guy that looked like he could beat Josh to a pulp.

Also another couple, because Frank and Gerard were holding hands.

“Hey.”

“Frank’s specialty is botany,” said Patrick with a smirk on his face. Frank grunted.

Josh noticed flowers were starting to grow through the cracks where the tables were pressed together. He figured that was Frank’s work. Which was strange, because he wouldn’t have assigned a power like that to a guy like Frank.

“Plants and stuff,” he mumbled, his eyes looking at the flowers budding off to the side. A loud sigh left his lips. “Dammit.”

“We all know you can’t help it,” Gerard reassured him. "Have Tyler get his friend to kill them.” Mikey and Gerard started laughing and Pete threw them a disapproving look.

“You shouldn’t say stuff like that,” he addressed firmly. The brothers’ laughter died down, leaving the table in an awkward silence. Gerard apologized.

“Sorry. That was rude.”

“It’s not like he can stop that from happening,” Josh added quietly. Everyone looked at him.

“Why are you even defending him? Humans mean nothing to us.” Frank’s face twisted in contortion and Josh felt uneasy. Great, another guy who didn’t like him.

“That doesn’t matter,” he argued, “he still can’t stop it. Nobody should joke about things people can’t help.”

“Doesn’t give him the excuse to act like an asshole,” Mikey muttered as he crossed his arms. Josh gripped the table so hard his knuckles were turning white.

“Maybe he’s just scared. Ever thought about that?”

“Josh,” Pete warned in a low tone. Josh kept talking.

“Of course he’s scared. He’s being controlled by something so evil it puts Hitler to shame. So maybe just lay off, ok?” Nobody dared to speak. Josh stood up from the table and prepared to leave. He didn’t want to be around anyone at the moment, especially people that viewed him as unimportant.

“Wait, Josh.” Frank stood up from the table as well and reached for Josh’s arm to get his attention. “I’m really sorry if I came across as rude. I have no problems with the human race, and Tyler is a great guy. We all got issues here; it wasn’t right for us to tease him about it.”

The table filled with mutters of apologizes and Josh sighed.

“Sorry for lashing out. It’s just me trying to get used to everything, and Tyler -”

“We all know Josh, it’s alright.” Patrick stood up as well and threw an arm around his shoulders as some sort of half hug.

When they pulled away, Mikey was grinning crazily at him.

Josh gulped. “What?”

Mikey’s eyes flickered around the room before he leaned over across the table and whispered, “Do you really want to bang Tyler?”

Pete choked on his water he was currently drinking and crimson spread across Josh’s face. Patrick’s jaw dropped.

“Is that a rumor that’s going around?” Patrick ask, mortified. Josh wasn’t sure why he was the one disturbed by it; the rumor was about him.

Mikey nodded his head, the grin transforming over to a smirk. He leaned back in his chair. “Dallon was talking to -”

“No way,” Josh interrupted. His hands went back to gripping the table. “No way he started this.”

“Well of course it wasn’t him that started it. Somebody overheard something.” Gerard elaborated. He took a long drink from his cup before setting it down and raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know who.”

“Probably Brendon,” Pete grumbled, wiping the water off of his chin. “That guy is always causing problems.”

“He doesn’t like me very much,” Josh added.

“Brendon doesn’t like anyone very much. Don’t worry about it.” Mikey kicked his feet up onto the table and Gerard shoved him out of his chair. He made an attempt to get his brother back, but Gerard was already taking off down the hallway.

“Fucking idiot,” Mikey grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his head. He pulled himself off the ground and disappeared in thin air.

Oh right. Teleportation.

“This is how most our conversations end,” Frank said, rolling his eyes. He pushed out from the table and dusted his hands on his jeans. Josh noticed vines twisting from under his long sleeved shirt. They crept in between the empty spaces in his fingers and disappeared under his palm. Josh was curious to if that ever annoyed Frank. He figured he would be extremely annoyed with that.

“Hope to see you again yeah?” Josh shook the thought out of his head and attempted a smile.

“Yeah. See you later.” Frank was gone one smile later.

Josh decided it’d be better if he sat down. All the anger in his body had seemed to melt away (without Spencer’s help) and he thought he could engage in conversation.

“Heard your meeting with Tyler didn’t end well.” Pete was staring intently across the table.

“Uh, no. It did not.”

“Did uh, the other guy visit?” Patrick asked, his voice thick with worry. He pulled his sweater sleeves over his hand and one was raised to his lips.

“Sure did,” Pete murmured. He leaned farther over the table.

“He hurt Tyler pretty bad.” Josh began, staring into space. He didn’t want to look at Patrick’s sympathetic expression or Pete’s angered one. “I don’t know if that’s the first time he’s done that, but it was messy.”

“Blurryface has never physically harmed Tyler. It made sense I guess, because they share the same body, but now...” Patricks voice trailed off, and he looked like he was getting ready to cry.

“I think it’s because I was there.”

“No Josh, don’t start blaming yourself.” Pete’s tone sounded gentle for the first time since Josh had arrived here. He shook his head.

“He won’t touch me, we’ve established that. It’s for reasons unknown, but he claims it’s because he owns me. He’s said he wants to kill before, yet he won’t do it. And today, I scared him away. Dallon says his presence is so weak he can barely feel it. He’s not even trying to take over. It’s like he’s given up.”

“But we all know he hasn’t. He’ll never give up, not while Tyler is alive.” Patrick sighed sadly. He pulled his glasses off his face and began to clean them with the sleeve of his sweater.

“Too bad Tyler isn’t going to die anytime soon.” Pete sounded like he didn’t want to say that sentence. Josh felt his heart skip a beat. What did they mean? Surely they didn’t mean...

“Are you saying he’s immortal?” asked Josh, hysteria creeping its way into his voice. He had to know the answer.

“We aren’t exactly sure.” Pete leaned back in his chair and scratched behind his ear. “The kid’s an enigma basically. Dallon think’s he might be, only because of the way he’s set up. Part of him wants to kill, the other wants to save. How can you kill something that can bring itself back to life?”

“It’s almost as if he’s not alive nor dead,” Patrick continued. “When he was born, he was a normal kid. Sure, his parents were aware he wasn’t human, but they didn’t think what happened to him was gonna happen. But Tyler, he’s kind of just there.”

“He’s like a reaper,” Pete finished.

Tears were burning at the corners of Josh’s eyes. It was stupid, really. Tyler was a stranger. Josh didn’t know Tyler. He knew he wasn’t going to have a chance with him. But now knowing he was most likely going to live forever...

Now Josh really didn’t have a chance.

Afraid to speak in case he choked and started crying, Josh only nodded his head. Pete clucked his tongue.

“I’m sorry Josh.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. He -” Josh choked. _Dammit_. “He’s the one that has to deal with it.”

“Josh -”

“I’m gonna go back to my room now. Sorry.” Josh forced a smile and stood up. This was ridiculous - _he_ was ridiculous. Tyler was a guy. One single guy.

Except he was so much more.

Josh shuffled down the corridor quickly. He could kind of remember where his room was; you just turned down this hallway, then another, and then one more. Simple. Kind of.

He could feel his throat burning when the staircase came into view. Maybe he should visit.

No. Definitely not.

He’ll finish putting his drumset together. He’ll play until he can’t remember why he was upset. He’ll lock himself in his room and spend some time for him; maybe even take a shower or something. That was a good plan. No more thinking about Tyler.

Josh had just barely opened his bedroom door when a hand went over his mouth and he was being shoved into a wall. It was dark too - he hadn’t gotten a chance to turn on the lights.

“Don’t scream.”

_Holy Shit._

A million things ran through Josh’s head at that second. Why was _he_ here? In Josh’s bedroom? In the dark?

Tyler pulled his hand away, and Josh could feel him place it on his chest. What the hell was he doing?

“I’m going to try something,” he whispered. Josh wished he could see Tyler’s face.

And then Tyler was kissing him.

Kissing. Him.

Josh shut his eyes and melted into Tyler’s touch. He couldn’t believe this was happening. This couldn’t be real. There is no way this could be real. Tyler was oracular.

Tyler hated Josh.

Tyler couldn’t stand Josh.

Tyler wanted to hurt Josh.

Except he wasn’t. His hand slipped under Josh’s shirt and was tracing the defined lines of his abdominals, and Josh was tangling his hands in Tyler’s hair. He didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t want it to end.

Then Tyler was tugging on the hem of Josh’s shirt, and he was pulling it up and over Josh’s head, pulling off his hat in the process. His hands went back to touching Josh’s chest. They were running over his arms, his shoulders, his chest, until they firmly gripped his hips. Josh flinched at the pressure of Tyler's nails and went back to kissing him.

Tyler slipped out of his shirt easily, and began to use all his force to yank down on Josh’s jeans. Their kiss became more passionate; Tyler was becoming more harsh and forceful. He dug his nails into Josh’s arms as his pants came off.

And just like that, they stood panting, staring at each other in only boxers in the darkness of Josh’s bedroom.

“No sex,” Tyler said blatantly. “I just wanted to try.”

“Yeah,” Josh replied, trying to play it cool and pretend there wasn’t a giant bulge in his boxers and that he wasn't extremely turned on. “Right.”

“But that was nice.” Josh’s eyes had adjusted enough for him to see Tyler zip up his jeans and shimmy back into his shirt. Tyler cleared his throat, and then leaned in close enough for his lips to brush Josh’s.

“We’ll do it again maybe, yeah?”

Josh couldn’t believe that had just happened. His voice came out squeaky. “Maybe, yeah.”

Then Tyler disappeared out the door, leaving Josh in disbelief.


	5. 005

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: There is some mild (very mild) smut at the end of this. I mean I don't think it could even be considered smut but I don't want anyone to be uncomfortable so I'm telling you now. Okay.

Josh couldn’t sleep that night.

He laid in bed, staring at the blank white wall in front of him, his head buzzing with a million different thoughts. All of them were about Tyler of course.

It was over before it started, and Josh wondered how things were going to be between them now. Had Tyler waited in his room for him to come back? Had he sat down at his desk and thought, “Wow, I really want to kiss Josh and then leave because I’m an asshole,” and then went and sat in his room? Josh doubted that had been the case, but it sure felt like it.

He rolled over with a sigh. _We’ll do it again maybe, yeah?_

Tyler was possibly the most enigmatic person he had ever met.

Josh was going to have to talk to Tyler about it. He had to find out what last night meant exactly, when earlier that morning Tyler was yelling at him.

He had to find out if that was going to happen again.

 

\---

 

When morning came, Josh left for the dining room, his eyes lining the walls to see if he could find some trace of difference between the hallways. That would at least help him not get lost. Luckily for him, so far he had only gone down one wrong hallway halfway, and turned back around before he got lost.

“Joshua!”

He sighed loudly, knowing exactly who was calling his name. He did not want to have to deal with Dallon and his “life lesson” speeches at the moment.

Dallon smiled when he reached Josh and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Things with Tyler went well I assume?”

Josh’s face turned bright red almost instantly. “Were you eavesdropping on me? Because I swear to God if you were, I’m -”

“I meant you watching over him. Not the other thing. Which wasn’t my fault. I was just checking in on him, and, uh, yeah.” Dallon shook his head. “I was just making sure his vitals were fine. I certainly didn’t expect you two to -”

“That’s enough!” Josh interrupted, throwing his hands out in front of him. “Don’t say anything. To anybody. Because I don’t want this getting around. It was stupid. It’s not going to happen again.”

“Very well.” Dallon looked around the two of them to make sure nobody was around before continuing. “Is he alright though?”

“He seems to be fine. I mean, I didn’t exactly stay with him much after he woke up. Tyler didn’t really want me to be there.”

“Not surprised about that. But he sure seemed to want you -”

“Dallon! Stop!” Josh placed both his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to have this conversation with anyone, much less Dallon.

He laughed loudly. “I’m sorry Joshua, I’ll stop. But if it means anything to you, Tyler did seem a lot happier.” Then he was smirking and disappearing down the hallway.

Josh hated Dallon at the moment.

He prayed no one had found out about his and Tyler’s hookup, because if that did happen, he would be screwed. They would never let him hear the end of it. Josh hadn’t even been here a full week; what kind of person would he look like if they found out?

Josh approached the door located two down from the entrance to the dining room. He had learned over the past few days that this was Patrick and Pete’s room, and he decided it’d be best if they sat and ate with him. Josh didn’t want to eat alone, but he also didn’t feel comfortable eating with anyone else. Patrick and Pete made him feel safe.

After knocking on the door, he took a step back. There was a loud crashing noise and a long string of profanities before the door opened. Patrick stood clad in only a thin T-shirt and boxers, his hair a mess and his glasses crooked. Josh raised an eyebrow.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“Nope,” Patrick grinned sheepishly. “Can I help you?”

“Uh, I was just wondering if you wanted to eat together, but it seems you’re a little busy at the moment so...”

“We’ll eat with you,” Pete said as he pushed past Patrick, stumbling to fix the zipper on his jeans. Patrick pointed behind him.

“I'll go get dressed.” he shut the door, leaving Pete and Josh in a now very awkward environment. Josh cleared his throat.

“Don’t you say a fucking word. I will break your neck.” that permanent scowl was back on his face and Josh didn’t dare say anything. He knew Pete probably would break his neck without hesitation.

When Patrick came out fully clothed, the three walked into the dining room. No one was making a suggestion for Josh to sit down, so he assumed they were finally letting him get his own food. How nice.

“Who makes the food around here?” Josh asked once they had sat down. He looked at the people around him. Somebody had to be doing it, right? Surely no one had the power to manifest full meals every day.

“We take turns,” replied Patrick. “Pete sets up a schedule for each month. Nobody really likes doing the breakfast one because you have to get up early.”

“I usually try to put good cooks with the bad ones. Some people here are really shitty at cooking.” Pete added, waving his fork around. “And some like cooking more than others.”

“That’s why most of our meals are basic. Sometimes we send Mikey out to pick up pizza. Those are the best nights.”

“Maybe we’ll do pizza sometime this week.”

“Pizza is good,” Josh nodded. “I’ll never turn down pizza.”

“Good, because if you did I might have to kill you.” Pete glared at Josh, and for a split second Josh believed he might be serious. Patrick rolled his eyes.

“He’s kidding.”

“No I’m not,” Pete retorted, crossing his arms.

“Pete gets really passionate about his pizza.”

“It’s the only good thing left on this fucking planet.”

“Besides me?” a smirk spread across Patrick’s face and Pete began groaning loudly.

“You’re the worst thing on this planet.”

Patrick gasped in fake horror. “How dare you!” he reached over to punch Pete’s shoulder, and the two of them broke into smiles. Josh felt like he was interrupting something.

“Do you, uh, want me to leave?”

Pete shook his head. “You’re so fucking awkward dude. Stop being so tense.”

“How was your evening last night?” Patrick tried to take the conversation down a different road.

“Yes Josh, tell us how your evening went.” Pete had a smug look on his face and Josh filled with fear. Did they know? How would they know?

“Oh, uhm,” his voice cracked, and a hundred different curse words ran through his thoughts. “It was alright. I took a shower, finished putting together my drums, uh, normal stuff.”

“You’ll have to show me your setup.” Pete could tell Josh was lying. There were signs of some sort of scheme all over his face and Josh knew he had to be careful with his words.

“Uh, yeah. You can come down later if you want.”

“Why not now? We aren’t doing anything.”

“Yeah,” Patrick nodded. “No plans for us today.”

“You know, it’s kind of messy in there, I’ve got clothes everywhere -”

“Josh, cut the shit. We both know you’re lying.” then Pete was slamming his hands on the table like on one of those horrible cop shows and Josh could feel his heart speed up in fear. _Oh God, they knew. They knew._

“Little Joshie here got biz-zay!” the three turned to face Brendon, who was sliding into the chair next to Josh. He threw his arm around Josh’s shoulders.

Josh tried his hardest not to flinch.

“Brendon, we need to talk about spreading rumors.” Pete said solemnly, sitting up straight.

Brendon’s face filled with hurt. “How could you say such a thing? Brendon Urie does not under any circumstances spread rumors, especially sex related rumors.”

Pete snorted. “Oh, of course. Sorry I ever doubted you.”

“Apology not accepted. I want to talk to boss man.”

“I am your boss. You talk to me.”

Brendon sighed and began inspecting his nails. “Yeah, I don’t think so. You see, you aren’t the boss. The death obsessed basement hogger who’s banging Josh is.”

Josh shrugged out of Brendon’s arm as his face began to tinge pink. He didn’t want to have this conversation. Ever.

“That’s what I’m talking about Brendon, knock it off with this crap. Nobody wants to deal with it.”

“I would love to deal with it. In fact, I would love to hear every precious detail from Tyler on what it was like fucking a human.”

“We didn’t do anything!” Josh blurted out. “Stop acting like we did!”

Brendon scoffed. “I’m a lot smarter than you Joshie; I don’t know why you think I’m stupid. I could hear you guys last night. It sounded like you were having a wonderful time.”

“Why were you even over there?” Josh demanded, his fists clenching in his lap. He hated this guy a lot.

“I could feel the frequencies from your drums. I haven’t felt anything that strong in years so I really wanted to check them out. I sure didn’t expect to be hearing noises like that.” Brendon laughed loudly and Josh wanted to crawl under the table.

“Why do you assume it was Tyler?”

“Well was it Tyler?”

“No!”

“You’re lying.”

Pete grunted. “Brendon, stop torturing him. So what if he had sex?”

“We didn’t have sex!” Josh was hysterical now. Nobody was believing him. “We kissed. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Woah woah, you actually made out with Tyler? This is the same Tyler we’re talking about, right?” Patrick’s face was full of amazement and Josh really wished he wasn’t alive at the moment.

“We didn’t make -” Pete raised an eyebrow at the same time Brendon smirked and Josh debated flipping the table. “Fine. We did. Oh well. It happened once and it’s never going to happen again.”

“But you want it to happen again,” Brendon sang quietly. He cracked his knuckles. “Having sex with him might possibly be a near death experience.”

“Alright,” Pete declared, standing up from the table. He pointed down the hallway. “You’re done. Get out.”

Brendon shrugged. “Jesus man, learn to take a joke.”

“Leave.”

He held out his hands. “Alright I’m going. Good luck with your journey to bang the boss Joshie.” Brendon patted Josh on the back roughly and darted down the hallway. Pete sighed as he sank back down into his chair and hit his head on the table several times.

“I’m sorry Josh, that kid is a grade A dick.”

“Whatever,” Josh mumbled. He stared at the floor.

“I can’t believe Tyler Joseph, the man who spends all his time hiding from people, willingly came upstairs and made out with you. You’re special Josh.” Patrick’s grin was huge and Josh kind of wanted to hit it off of him.

“Please stop,” he said into his hands.

“Have you guys talked about it yet?”

“Please stop.”

“You’re probably going to have to talk about it.”

“Please stop.”

“Josh-”

“ _Please_ stop.”

“Alright Patrick, that’s enough for now.” Pete pulled on Patrick’s arm and Josh sighed with relief.

“I’m going to go now.” Josh grabbed his barely touched plate and left the table without a goodbye. He threw it into the trash can on his way out. That was not how Josh expected to spend his morning.

If any of that got back to Tyler, he was doomed. Joshua Dun would be non-existent.

When he got back to his room, Josh took a long shower. Maybe he could wash the embarrassment off of himself.

 

\---

 

He had just barely finished putting his drumset together and was getting ready to sit down and try it out when there was a loud beeping noise in his room. He winced. What on earth was that?

“Josh? Can you hear me?”

_Oh God._

Not now. This was not what Josh needed right now. He was about to play, he was going to let all this stupid stress melt away, he was going to make a lot of freaking noise. Tyler was the exact opposite of what he needed right now.

“I can hear you,” Josh muttered. He hoped Tyler couldn’t hear him. He didn’t want to talk to him.

“Oh good, it works. Anyways, I’d like to speak with you privately.”

“You know, I’m not sure about that.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion, it was a command.” Josh was still looking for words when Tyler clicked off. He sighed loudly and slid off his bed.

Tyler was pacing his office when Josh pushed open the doors. The record player was playing something with violins today.

He was wearing a loose T-shirt and tight jeans, and Josh knew this wasn’t going to end well.

“Hi.” Josh grumbled as he made his way over to Tyler’s desk. He prepared to sit down, but it seemed Tyler had a different plan.

He grabbed Josh’s arm and twisted it behind his back, pulling him close until there were only a few inches between them. Josh was squirming under Tyler’s touch, but Tyler just tilted his head and smirked.

“We need to talk Josh.”

“This is kind of an uncomfortable way to talk.”

“Would you rather do it a different way?” he leaned in until their lips were barely touching, and Josh pulled away with a scowl.

“We can’t do this.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because one minute you’re acting like you hate me and now you’re acting like, like this! We barely know each other, first of all, and second of all, I don’t -”

“He doesn’t like it,” Tyler interrupted with a sigh, letting Josh go. He sat down behind his desk and started wringing his hands. “It makes him furious.” Josh let Tyler’s words process in his thoughts before he replied.

“Because he wants me,” he said quietly. Tyler nodded.

“He hates me. He hates this. I know he wants to take control so badly, but I don’t know what he’s doing. He’s not even trying. And last night, he was so angry. I could feel it, and it felt so good. He was pissed and it made me happy.”

“So what now?”

“That’s up to you. He’s going to try, and I know it’s going to be hard. But I...” he shook his head. “Josh, do you know what happens during sex?”

Josh knew plenty of things that happened during sex, but he wasn’t about to say any of them.

“Emotions run wild. I have so many of them at so many times, and I’m terrified that if something does happen and I reach that point, I’m going to lose control and then he’ll kill them. I’ll kill them. I can’t do that to someone.”

“So what’s your plan then? You want to use me to make him mad so you can feel good about yourself? Is that it then?”

Tyler’s jaw clenched. “You know why I despise the human race so much? Because they have it so easy. They live their lives, they go to work, they’re normal. They don’t have to deal with the shit I have to deal with. My parents Josh, my own parents, were terrified of me. They wouldn’t even touch me. A child shouldn’t have to live like that.”

“Nobody has it easy. We all have our own problems. There are humans who are homeless Tyler. Humans who sleep with people for money because it’s the only way to feed their families. Humans who get abused, humans who are starving, humans who are killing themselves. You having powers doesn’t put you higher on the hierarchy. You think everyone has a good relationship with everyone around them? My parents were disappointed in me Tyler. I don’t even talk to them anymore. You want to talk about problems? Sure. Go ahead. But don’t assume every single person has it good when they don’t.”

Josh turned to leave. Tyler was an egotistical asshole and he wasn’t going to deal with him. He didn’t have too.

“Josh, please don’t leave.”

He swiveled back around, anger fueling his body. “I don’t understand you Tyler. You’re all over the damn place. I can’t deal with it.”

“I’m sorry Josh, I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“But that’s the thing Tyler! It doesn’t matter if it was me or some other person; you were still going to say it. And maybe they did have an okay childhood! Maybe they’re living in a two story house on a farm with a white picket fence, a dog, and two kids. Well good for them. They worked for it Tyler. We all work for things. You are so filled with self-pity and hate that you don’t stop to see that maybe things are okay. All these people in this building, Pete, Patrick, Dallon, to name a few, they care about you. They worry about you. They stress over you. Pete does fucking everything around here and he doesn’t complain because he knows you’re struggling. And Dallon! Did you even thank him for healing you and saving your fucking life? You were going to die! And he was down here in seconds! He was even checking on you to make sure you were still alright. He’s always watching over you. In fact, the man barely gets any sleep because of you.” Josh couldn’t hear himself think. He was spitting fire. “Tyler Joseph, you are nothing but a selfish, egotistical dick and I’m not going to bother with you anymore. Goodbye.”

Josh walked out without looking at Tyler’s face. He didn’t want to see his expression, because he felt guilty for saying something so horrible, but Tyler really needed to hear that. He took the stairs two at a time, wanting nothing more than to sit and make as much noise as possible. He was filled to the brim with anger and frustration and needed to get rid of it.

And he played hard. He played until his arms ached and sweat was dripping down his forehead. Tyler was stupid. Tyler didn’t matter. He didn’t need him in his life.

One of Josh’s drumsticks cracked in half. His favourite, beaten to hell pair of drumsticks. He was yelling loudly as he threw the broken pieces across the room. And then he was turning around and punching the wall as hard as he could.

Then he was screaming, because _Holy fucking shit that fucking hurt so fucking badly_ and he was pretty sure he had broken his knuckles. Blood was dripping down his hand and tears were dripping down his face and Josh really didn’t want to be alive. He should have never got involved with drugs. He should have gone to college like his parents wanted him to. He should have had better friends. He should have let those stupid thugs kill him, because then he wouldn’t have gotten lost in a fucking forest and wandered into an occupied building full of crazy psychopathic people with superpowers. He wouldn’t have met fucking stupid Tyler with his dark eyes and his thick hair and his mystical personality and his stupid evil side.

Josh forced himself to go to the bathroom and clean his injury. He focused on breathing as he ran water over his mutilated hand and not the fact that it hurt really _fucking_ bad. He didn’t even have a band-aid or gauze or anything besides the towel he used to dry off with and that certainly wasn’t going to be much help.

His knuckles were starting to turn purple. Josh cursed loudly.

He probably should go find Dallon. He just didn’t want to be walking down the halls with a tear stained face.

Josh’s door clicked in the midst of his thoughts. He held his breath. Who was that?

He was both surprised and terrified when Brendon came into the bathroom. He rubbed his head awkwardly and refused to make eye contact. Josh saw Brendon's eyes flicker over his swelling hand and his expression seemed to soften.

“Uh, I could tell something wasn’t right. I came in here to be an asshole about it but something really is wrong so I’m not going to do that.”

Josh scoffed. “Wow, I feel so honoured. Thanks.”

“What happened?”

“Why do you even care?”

Brendon shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry for being a major dick to you ever since you came here. You don’t have to forgive me, because I’ll probably fuck up again, but at least let me help you.”

“I punched a wall,” Josh muttered. “Could you go find Dallon or at least something I can wrap my hand with? I’m pretty sure I broke my knuckles.”

“You punched a wall? Why did you do that?”

“For the love of God, please go find Dallon.”

Brendon nodded. “I’ll be right back.” Josh sighed with relief when he shimmied out of the bathroom and left through the door. Dallon was coming, and he would fix his hand.

Then he’d probably lecture Josh, which he probably deserved.

Brendon seemed to take forever. He certainly did not come “right back” and with every passing minute Josh’s hand seemed to ache more and more. Why did the closest thing to him have to be the wall? Why couldn’t it have been something soft?

Josh was an idiot.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Dallon was bursting into the bathroom, Brendon and Spencer following closely behind him. Immediately Josh felt a incoming of tranquility fall over him and he let out a rush of air from a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. Bringing Spencer had been a good call.

“Joshua, why on earth did you punch a wall?” Dallon was on the brink of a lecture as he pulled Josh’s hand out from under the sink and pressed his on top. Josh hissed in pain.

“Got angry.” he felt like he was drunk. The others seemed to tell.

“Spencer, let off a little.” Brendon nudged Spencer next to him and the room seemed a lot less warmer. Josh didn’t feel as calm as he did. He didn’t feel much of anything actually.

“You got angry?” Dallon repeated, and Josh nodded.

“My stick broke. When I was playing. It made me angry.”

“He sure was going at it,” Brendon cut in. “I could hear it all the way from my room. The frequency I mean. It was loud.”

“Is that what made you angry or were you already angry?” Dallon questioned. He started to examine Josh’s in-the-process-of-healing hand.

Josh shrugged. “I’m always angry.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Guess you should be more specific then, huh?”

“Joshua,” Dallon was getting frustrated. “Please.”

“I don’t have to answer to you. You aren’t my dad.”

“Dadlon Weekes,” Brendon snickered, and Dallon sent him a death glare.

“Then tell me what I can at least do to help.”

“You can’t do anything for me.”

“Tyler called for me today. Did you know that?”

“Fuck Tyler.”

“Literally,” Brendon laughed loudly and Spencer was flicking him in the ear.

“He thanked me for healing him. He’s never thanked me. Not once ever.”

“Well I’m glad he did something nice for a change.” Josh rolled his eyes and glanced down at his hand. When was this pointless conversation going to be over?

“He also apologized for being rude. He said he had a conversation with somebody and it made him realize he needs to make some changes.”

“Wow. How touching.”

“Joshua, I know it was you who talked to him. I could see it all over Tyler. I can see it all over you as well.”

“Dallon, I really don’t want to do this right now. I just want to sleep for the next thousand years and pretend none of this is real.”

Dallon sighed. He let go of Josh’s hand and wiped his off on his pants. Josh noticed there were still yellow bruises covering his knuckles; Dallon hadn’t finished. “Fine. We don’t have this conversation. But I told you to be careful.”

“I am being careful!” Josh was yelling, and he wasn’t sure why. There was no need for him to yell. The others seemed taken back by Josh’s outburst. “I am being careful. I am.”

“Alright.”

Josh rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry for yelling. Thank you for your help. All of you.” Dallon nodded.

“Come on you guys,” he whispered. Dallon placed an arm over Brendon and Spencer’s shoulders and led them out of the room. Josh sighed when the door slammed shut and flopped onto his bed. Today had sucked. It had sucked a lot.

Josh hadn’t even been here a week and he had to be here for the rest of his life. How was he even going to do that? He didn’t think he could do that. Not when everybody wanted to know his business and he was being snippy.

“I’m sorry,” he said outloud. Silence was his response.

Josh decided he was going to take a nap.

 

\---

 

The first thing he noticed was how  _cold_ it was.

He found himself dashing quickly through the forest, branches leaving large scratches on his arms as he zipped by. There was snow on the ground and frost hiking up trees and Josh didn’t know where he was. It was dark and everything looked the same.

Laughter was ringing in his ears and making him wince. It seemed to come from everywhere all at once.

And then he was tripping and stumbling down a hill, rocks embedding themselves into his skin and branches putting holes in his shirt. There was a person at the bottom waiting for him.

Tyler.

He stood still, his eyes glassy and his face empty.

Almost like he was dead.

Josh pushed himself off the ground, groaning with pain.

“Tyler? Can you hear me?”

There was no response. Josh got closer.

“Tyler?”

“You are pathetic.” Josh took a step back as another Tyler stepped out from behind a frost soaken tree. His eyes were bright red. “You are useless. Worthless. You don’t deserve to be alive.”

“Why are you doing this?” Josh asked, his voice raw. He squinted against the wind.

Blurryface approached the other Tyler standing still, and Josh realized he wasn’t talking to him. He was talking to Tyler.

“Nobody likes you. Nobody needs you. You make everything worse.”

“Stop,” Josh begged. He didn’t listen. It was almost like Josh wasn’t even there.

“You need to die,” he whispered into Tyler’s ear, and then Blurryface reached out and cupped Tyler’s cheek. All the colour drained again from his skin, and darkness began traveling across his face and down his arms following the arrangement of his veins. Then he was falling to the ground.

Dead.

Josh shot up from his bed, his breathing heavy. He was covered in sweat and blinked his eyes to try and adjust to the darkness.

The clock on his bedside table read 10:07 pm.

Josh ran his fingers through his hair and tried to calm down. It had only been a dream, but it felt so real. He had felt the cold sinking into his skin, the regret, the fear.

There was a knock on his door.

He held his breath and turned towards the noise, unsure if it was real or just his imagination. The person knocked again. Josh figured it was Dallon coming to ask him why his anxiety had shot through the roof. He was never going to get any privacy ever again.

“Now’s not the time Dallon,” he shouted over the knocking, but the person didn’t stop. Josh grumbled under his breath as he groggily climbed out of bed and flipped the light switch on before opening the door.

It wasn’t Dallon.

Tyler stood wringing his hands with that stupid black paint covering them and dug his foot into the ground.

Josh blinked. He didn’t know what to say. What do you say to the person you screamed at hours earlier? He wasn’t going to apologize if that’s what Tyler wanted.

Tyler cleared his throat and gestured to Josh’s room. “Do you care if I come in?”

 _Yeah, I care,_ Josh thought but for some reason he pulled the door open farther so Tyler could come in anyways. Tyler ran his fingers over Josh’s drums while he closed the door and leaned against it. Tyler looked around the room before his eyes found Josh.

That the was moment Josh remembered he wasn’t wearing any pants, only his boxers, and he found himself blushing.

“I uh, didn’t know you played.” Tyler was trying to make small talk and Josh didn’t understand why.

“Yes,” he said.

“That’s cool.”

“Sure.”

He sighed. “Look Josh, about what you said - I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ve been locked away for so long that I haven’t really been paying attention to anything else. I’ve been selfish, I’ve been rude, and I have only cared about myself. And I’m sorry.”

Josh grunted.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I’m going to try to make things better here, not only for you but for the others. I’ve become just as bad as the other guy, and I stopped fighting him. That’s changing. You made him stop controlling for a little while, and I’ve got the reigns so I’m going to fix things.”

“People don’t change Tyler. You don’t need to force yourself too.”

“I used to think everything in the world was a horrible dark mess. I thought nothing in this world could possibly change that. I think part of that was thanks to the other guy.” Tyler paused to take a deep breath. “Then I saw you.”

Josh’s face twisted with confusion. What did he mean?

“When I first saw you, I was trapped away not even bothering to try and take control again. But there was so much energy coursing through your veins and I knew he was going to want to kill you. But then he didn’t. And I know he wanted to. But you were different.” Tyler trailed his fingers over Josh’s arm and began tracing the outlines of his tattoo sleeve. Josh didn’t dare breathe. “You’re beautiful.”

“I’m not,” Josh said quietly, still slightly confused. “I’m apart of that dark mess of a world.”

“Then maybe we’ll have to get through it together. I’m asking for your help, because I can’t keep trying to pretend I’m alright and do things by myself.”

“Together then.”

“Together.”

Josh stared into Tyler’s dark eyes. They were filled with a mix of emotions, and Josh knew he was being serious. He really did want to try.

Then Tyler’s eyes flickered red and he winced in pain.

“No,” Josh started panicking. This was the wrong time. Things were supposed to be better, not getting worse!

Tyler leaned against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut, not even daring to speak.

“Tyler, you have to fight him. You have to try!”

Still no answer.

His breathing was shallow, but Josh didn’t want to touch him in case he did switch. “Tyler, come on! I know you can do it! Just listen to me, everything is going to be alright.”

Suddenly Tyler looked up at Josh with a small smile on his face. His eyes were back to being dark, not a sign of red anywhere. He had done it.

Josh was quick to pull him into a hug and squeeze as tight as he could without really thinking about it. Fortunately Tyler didn't seemed phased by it, and laughed instead.

“He wasn’t trying that hard. It was a hiccup I guess.”

“You still did it,” Josh mumbled into his shoulder. “You didn’t turn.”

“That’s cause you’re in the room and I don’t want to have to deal with your smart ass comments.”

Josh laughed. “You’re just jealous because I’m wittier than you.” They pulled away, and suddenly Josh's back slammed against the wall, their chests touching. Tyler placed his hand on Josh’s shoulder, and silence flooded the room.

“I want you,” Tyler whispered, leaning in. Josh closed his eyes.

And then they were kissing.

It was just as nice as last time; Josh didn’t think that was going to be a problem. Their personalities may have fit together like oil and water, but their mouths sure didn’t, and Tyler was pushing harder and harder as the seconds passed. He was pushing and pulling Josh every which way and Josh let him do whatever he wanted.

Tyler tore Josh’s shirt off forcefully, flinging it across the room as it came off. The wall was cold against Josh's back, but he didn’t care; it only stirred more excitement. Tyler’s came off next, and it gave Josh the perfect excuse to gently nudge Tyler to his bed. They rolled on together and Tyler straddled him, their kiss still going strong, fingers grasping, sliding, fumbling. He drew blood as he pulled away from Josh's bottom lip and moved to his neck instead. He bit hard underneath Josh's jaw, earning him a small moan. Tyler’s nails dug hard into his arms as Josh felt for the zipper on Tyler’s jeans. His hand brushed over the bulge in Tyler’s pants and he grinned internally, because Tyler was turned on right now so maybe this would lead somewhere. He wondered how far it would go before Tyler stopped.

“Jesus Christ Josh, hurry up,” he growled, sitting up and sliding out of his own tight jeans himself. He went back to sucking on Josh’s neck, causing Josh to involuntarily moan again.

Josh could feel blood dripping down his arm where Tyler’s nails had broken skin but he didn’t really care because this was happening right here right now and he wanted to remember every second of it.

“How’s the other guy doing right nOW?” Josh asked, his voice sliding up an octave when he felt Tyler’s hand slide under the hem of his boxers. Tyler growled again.

“He’s pissed.”

Tyler was attempting to remove Josh’s boxers and Josh wanted him to so badly but he realized that one, they didn’t have any of the essentials needed for this to go through and two, that Tyler wouldn’t really want to go through with this because of his fear something would go terribly wrong.

“We gotta stop Tyler,” Josh mumbled as he reached for Tyler’s hand.

“No.”

“You know this isn’t going to end well. You’re already starting to get aggressive.”

“Let me do whatever I fucking want Josh.”

“Tyler, you know we can’t have sex, you know it’s going to end badly.”

Tyler went limp and sighed loudly. He sat up.

“I know, I know.” he paused. “I just want to see it.”

“See what?” Josh asked, oblivious. Tyler rolled his eyes.

“Take your boxers off so I can see your fucking dick.”

“Oh.” Josh rolled off the bed and shimmied out of his underwear. He could feel himself blushing under Tyler’s judgement.

“Wow,” was all Tyler said after what seemed like hours of silence.

“Wow?” Josh echoed, unsure of what that meant.

“It’s not a bad dick.” Tyler was smirking.

“Thanks, I grew it myself.” Josh replied and Tyler groaned loudly. He then was pulling off his own boxers and crawling underneath the covers of Josh’s bed before Josh could really get a good look.

“So I don’t get to see yours then?”

Tyler shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Alright, whatever.” Josh hit the lights before crawling in next to Tyler. They were close, bodies radiating heat as Tyler pulled Josh closer to him.

“I’m going to try,” he whispered. “We have to see how far we can go before I lose it, and take it from there. Tonight was good.”

“Tonight was good,” Josh agreed.

Tyler pressed his lips gently to Josh’s forehead.

“Goodnight Josh.”

Josh wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to sleep tonight.

Josh also knew that if anybody found out about this, then he would never hear the end of it.

Translation: Josh was screwed.


	6. 006

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: Mild violence in this chapter. It's cool though I promise.

Josh almost screamed when he woke up with Tyler sleeping next to him. He was sure it had to have been a dream, because Tyler hated him.

Yet there he was, snoring quietly with his arm curled over his head, and Josh concluded it had been very real.

He climbed out of bed quietly and pulled on a fresh pair of boxers before groggily shuffling into the bathroom. Josh cringed when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. A split lip now joined his black eye and bruised jaw, and purple spots were starting to blossom on his arms where Tyler had been a little too aggressive. He had faint traces of black paint smeared across his chest and upper arms; a string of maroon ran across his collarbone. This was not good.

Josh could scrub the paint off at least, but people were going to be suspicious of his lip, and if he couldn’t hide the evidence that Tyler got, er, harsh, he was certainly doomed. Not that he was going to be doomed anyways, because he sucked at lying and everyone would eat through the bullshit before he could even blink.

“Josh?” he turned towards the bathroom door to see Tyler leaning against the framework, his arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his face. He still hadn’t put any clothes on, and Josh refrained from looking at anything _but_ his face. He could feel his own turning red.

“You uh, uhm, got a little, uh, paint on me.” Josh stuttered. His tongue felt too big in his mouth and Tyler’s confidence was intimidating him.

“Yeah,” Tyler nodded as he scratched behind his ear. “I got a little too rough last night.” he took a step forward, causing Josh to back up into the sink. “Maybe that’s just to let people know not to mess with you.”

“Are you, uhm, are you, uh, feeling ok?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Josh shrugged. “I don’t, I think, maybe -”

Tyler pressed forward until his lips were resting on Josh’s. His hands slid down Josh’s back until one rested on the curve of his ass, and Josh immediately pulled away.

“It’s morning Tyler, people are doing stuff, we shouldn’t.”

Tyler sighed. “I don’t get human contact that often Josh.”

“I know, but -”

“He’s trying again Josh. I can feel him trying to take control again.”

“Tyler, when he gets angry you get angry. It’s just one big power struggle.” Tyler scoffed.

“There’s a difference between me getting angry and me really, _really_ wanting you.”

“But do we even know if it’s you that wants this? Maybe he’s getting inside your brain. We don't -”

“Josh.” Tyler ran his fingers over Josh’s biceps gently, that stupid smirk still on his face. “Trust me.”

“But why now? I don’t understand. You were acting like -”

“I know what I was acting like. I had to come across as scary and intimidating. I have too, because if I don’t people don’t listen to me.”

“I mean, you’re pretty intimidating in general.”

“That’s why people do what I say.” Josh allowed Tyler to kiss him this time. It didn’t last very long, for Josh pulled away with a great idea raging in his head.

“Come to breakfast today. You’re doing okay right now, you should talk to people.” Tyler rolled his eyes and gently pushed Josh out of the way. He started scrubbing his hands in the sink, paint staining the porcelain as it ran down the drain. Josh stared, waiting patiently so he could see what Tyler’s hands looked like without the paint covering them. He was already noticing tattoos he hadn’t realized were there before.

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“I mean, you’re already up here, it’s only a quick walk, if we don’t get lost, and then you can go back to the batcave. I just think it’ll be good for you. You did say you wanted help.”

Tyler sighed. “Alright, fine.”

Josh grinned. “Just let me take a shower. Then I should go find a long sleeved shirt. And you should put some clothes on.”

“What, you don’t like what you see?” Josh was blushing again and Tyler just laughed. “Kidding. I’m sorry for uh, tearing up your arms.”

“No, it’s okay. It didn’t hurt. Everything kind of happened at once.” They stood in awkward silence before Josh was pointing to the shower and Tyler was stepping back into Josh’s bedroom.

 

\---

 

“Stop doing that, it’s annoying,” Josh muttered as he swatted at Tyler wringing his hands. They were walking down to the dining room, and so far four people had stared at Tyler as he walked by. He really didn’t come up here that often.

Tyler groaned. “I’m not used to seeing my hands like this, sorry.” Josh shook his head.

“You’re always doing that, whether they’re coated in black stuff or not.”

“I’m just nervous. People are already staring at me. I don’t come up here.”

“People aren’t going to burst into flames at the sight of you, just calm down.” Josh adjusted the collar of his shirt and pulled down on the sleeves. Hiding evidence was going to be extremely difficult.

“If I turn up here, I’m going to kill all these people.”

“I’m pretty sure they’ll kill you first. You won’t turn. Everything’s gonna be ok.”

“Wow Josh, you’re so encouraging. Thank you. I feel so much better.” Tyler rolled his eyes and went back to wringing his hands. Josh bit his lip so he wouldn’t say anything, but he had forgotten it was torn up and the taste of blood filled his mouth.

The dining room was in sight when Pete grabbed a hold of Tyler’s shoulder. Pete’s face was full of surprise, while Tyler seemed to shrink right on the spot.

“Tyler? What are you doing up here?” His voice was gentle; he didn’t sound as afraid of Tyler as he had last time.

“I uhm, thought I’d come see how things are. It is my job to make sure everyone is alright, and I know you’ve been doing everything, so thank you. I’d also like to apologize for being a dick.”

Pete chuckled. “Apology accepted. It’s good to see you boss. Do you want to run through statistics?” Josh couldn’t help but notice Pete was staring at Tyler’s bare hands.

Tyler nodded. “I would love too.”

“It won’t take that long Josh,” Pete added. “I’ll take care of him.”

“He can take of himself just fine,” Josh retaliated, knowing Pete’s plan. Tyler raised an eyebrow and Josh turned away. “I’ll go sit with Patrick.”

They went their separate ways, and everyone was staring at Josh as he slid into his chair next to Patrick. Josh scoffed.

“Why is Tyler up here?” Brendon asked as he leaned across the table. A giant smile was plastered on his face.

“Why can’t he be?”

“The last time he willingly came up here was a year ago, so it’s a little shocking.” Patrick crossed his arms. Everyone was looking at Josh like he was supposed to know the answer.

“Well, Dallon said he and himself were on good terms, so he came upstairs.”

“Is that also why you have black paint smeared behind your ear?” Brendon’s grin turned into a smirk as Josh’s face flooded with red. He attempted to scrub it away nonchalantly. _Shit._

“Just lay off you guys. He’s not going crazy for once.”

“I wonder if he’ll come to the games today,” Mikey spoke up from the end of the table. Gerard elbowed his brother with a scoff.

“He won’t do that.”

“What games are you talking about?” Josh was confused, but also a little scared of what that could be exactly. Were they going to go kill people? Obviously that probably wasn’t true, but he couldn’t help feeling like it might be.

“Sometimes we have these sparring matches out in the woods. It’s dumb really.” Patrick explained with an eye roll. Mikey snorted.

“That’s because you suck. It’s playful competition.”

“It helps us with training as well,” Gerard added. “Having more control over our powers, more physical strength, agility, stuff like that. Everyone participates usually.”

“Besides Tyler of course. I have a winning streak.” Brendon was beaming.

“That’s because you’re a giant cheater.” for someone so skinny, Mikey sure did have a big mouth.

“Alright little Way, me versus you then. If I win, you do my cooking for the next three months.”

“And if I win, you have to take my place doing perimeter checks for three months.” Mikey leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow.

“Geez Mikey, punish me as well,” Gerard grumbled under his breath. Brendon rolled his eyes and threw out his hand.

“Deal.”

“You’re doomed Mikey.” Patrick leaned forward on his elbows, earning himself the finger.

“Well fuck you too Patrick. I guess I see where our friendship stands.”

“You always have been my favourite Patrick,” Brendon said with a laugh as he wrapped his arms around Patrick. When he let go, he turned towards Josh. “You’re gonna come watch, right Joshie?”

“I don’t see why not.” It sounded fun to watch, as long as they didn’t make him participate. Josh would be dead in three seconds. He wouldn’t even be able to get in a punch.

“Don’t worry, we won’t put you in. You already look like you were run over with a truck.” Brendon’s comment earned him from laughter from the group. Josh pouted.

“Yeah, well you can thank your buddies for my makeover.”

“I think it makes you look tough.” Pete grinned as he tousled Josh’s hair. Him and Tyler squeezed into the table, Tyler pushing as close to Josh as possible. “Like an 8 year old who fell off his bike tough.” Everyone at the table laughed again.

“Thanks Pete. I appreciate your help.”

“Sorry Josh, I can’t help it. You’re easy to make fun of.” It seemed then that people noticed Tyler was sitting with them. Their laughter died off and everyone was staring at Tyler wringing his hands in the corner.

“It’s good to see you Tyler,” Patrick said after a minute of awkward silence. Tyler flashed a small smile.

“Good to see you too.”

“Sorry about having to do the brain exploding,” Brendon mumbled, the beginning of a smirk rising to his lips. He ran a hand through his hair.

“That stuff doesn’t work on him you know. Only me, who’s not even in control in the first place.”

“Wait, really?” Pete tilted his head, face masked in confusion. Tyler nodded.

“He can’t feel any pain. He’s just the occupant and I’m the vessel. The darkness and loud noises and really trying to hurt him in general doesn’t work. It’s me who’s getting hurt.”

“But we’ve taken you, him, down before.”

“Shock. Surprise. He wasn’t expecting it.” Tyler shrugged. “Anyways, I’m not here to talk about that. How are all of you doing?”

The group seemed taken back by the question. A chorus of mumbled “good” filled the table along with awkward head scratches.

“Anything I need to be made aware of?”

“I can tell you any reported issues sir,” Pete replied. He looked guilty for saying that as Tyler’s face fell.

“Oh right. Never mind then. Good to see you’re doing your job Pete.” Tyler looked towards the hallway eagerly, like he was awaiting the moment he could flee to the basement.

Mikey cleared his throat. “Uhm, we’re doing sparring matches this afternoon Ty, er, sir, if you want to come.”

“I don’t think I’m wanted around here.”

“Of course you’re wanted,” Patrick argued. “That’s why you’re the leader. Come on, it’ll be fun. Even if they are stupid.”

“No one would mind seeing you put Brendon in his place,” added Pete with a smirk. Brendon rolled his eyes.

“Why am I the bad guy here?”

Mikey slapped a hand on Brendon’s shoulder and frowned sympathetically. “It’s because you’re an asshole.” He was gone by the time Brendon reached back to punch him.

Tyler smiled. “Ok, yeah. I’ll come.”

Pete slid his arm around Tyler’s shoulders. “I look forward to seeing you there.”

Josh was a little afraid something might happen if Tyler did these matches. What if he got punched in the face and got so angry the other guy could take over?

Tyler seemed to realize that. He seemed more nervous that he had before coming here. Josh was surprised when he felt a hand slip into his under the table. Tyler squeezed before leaning over, his lips barely brushing Josh's ear. “It’ll be okay.”

Josh hoped he was right.

 

\---

 

Hours later, everyone in the clan gathered in a giant empty clearing in the forest about half a mile away from the building. There were tables scattered around the edges where the trees started up again; one was covered in enough water bottles to conquer the thirst of an army. Josh sat watching as people warmed up for the games. He was really interested in seeing what was going to happen.

“How are you today Joshua?” Josh turned towards Dallon who dropped down next to him and smiled.

“I’m doing alright Dallon. How are you?”

“I’m good. I’m happy to see you don’t have any new severe injuries.” Dallon had a smug grin on his face and Josh knew what he was hinting at. He adjusted his collar and nodded towards the group.

“Do you participate in these games?”

Dallon shook his head. “Of course not. I’ll punch someone and end up healing them instead. I’m just here to help the losers.”

Josh chuckled. “Well that’s not a bad thing I guess. How did you guys find this place?”

“You know the creek that’s over there?” Dallon pointed between the trees and Josh realized he could hear water trickling over rocks further in the woods. He nodded. “Back when we were getting used to the building, Tyler would send people out to go see what was around, you know, for security purposes. When it was Alex’s turn, the first place he went was here, not surprisingly. But this area was nice enough for us to decide to do something with it. It was Mikey that suggested we fight each other.” He rolled his eyes in mild annoyance. “But it turned into a tradition.”

“Gives you guys something to do at least.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, it’s better than being stuck inside the building all day. Pete doesn’t really let us go out that much. He’s afraid something will happen.”

“I can understand why. But he can’t keep you guys there, can he?”

“Of course not. We go out sometimes, it’s just that there are some people that have a hard time going out and uh, controlling themselves. And some people are just plain stupid.” Josh nodded. He couldn’t deny that.

“Hey guys!” Mikey called out from the middle of the field. Everyone turned to look at him. “We’re going to start in a minute, so make sure you’re ready to go.” Josh’s eyes drifted from Mikey to Tyler who was sitting next to Pete across the field at a different table. He had changed into more comfortable clothing for this and had coated his hands in more paint, but he still looked lost, like he felt out of place. Patrick was talking to him, his arms waving all around with that optimistic grin he carried everywhere he went.

“I’m surprised Tyler is out here. I can tell he’s not comfortable.” Dallon’s face was full of concern. He leaned forward, his hands tangling together between his knees.

“You don’t need superpowers to be able to tell that.”

“You’ve been taking care of him though?”

Josh nodded. “I’ve been trying to. He came to breakfast this morning.”

“Wow, that’s really surprising.”

“I think it was good for him. He needed to know these people still care about him.” Dallon shifted his weight and leaned against the edge of the table. He smiled.

“You’re a good person Joshua. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thanks Dallon. You too.” Josh went back to watching Tyler. He was wringing his damn hands and had his head down so no one would bother him. Patrick stood up and walked over to where Mikey was talking to Jack. They exchanged whispers before Patrick shuffled to the center of the field.

“Looks like Patrick is matching people up,” Dallon commented. Josh leaned forward.

“Alright guys,” Patrick began, clasping his hands together. “We’re going to start now. I need Brendon and Mikey.”

The group broke out in whistles and cheers as Brendon and Mikey each took a corner. Mikey was grinning while Brendon had the most serious look Josh had even seen plastered across his face. They stood waiting patiently while Patrick spoke.

“Ok, remember the rules! First person to knock the other to the ground for ten seconds wins! This is playful competition, even if it is stupid, so don’t try and purposely harm your opponent to the point where Dallon has to spend an hour fixing them.”

“Yeah Zack!” Jack shouted from his seat next to Alex, earning himself laughter from everyone else. Patrick rolled his eyes.

“Your talents are fair game, as well as anything physical. Don’t leave the grounds -”

“Don’t harm the trees!” Frank interrupted.

“Don’t harm any of the wildlife if you can help it. I think that’s it. Go nuts!” The crowd cheered and Patrick held out an arm. “Three, two, one, fight!”

Brendon took a step forward and flashed a smirk as Mikey cringed in throbbing pain, gripping his head with a small gasp. Josh bit his lip as Brendon got closer.

“You have a headache Way? You might want to sit out!” He laughed loudly as he threw a punch at Mikey.

But Mikey was already gone, and Brendon was swinging at air. His smile disappeared as he swiveled around to see Mikey standing on the other side. He waved.

“Catch up Urie!” He grinned before disappearing again. Brendon didn’t even see the punch coming. He clenched his jaw as the crowd filled with “oohs.” Mikey disappeared again, but unlike last time when he threw another punch Brendon managed to catch it. He gripped Mikey's closed fist tightly, his smile vicious as Mikey yelped in pain at the ringing consuming his brain. He then tossed the youngest Way brother across the field like he weighed nothing. People in the crowd were shouting for Mikey to get up while others were yelling at Brendon to "take him down." Patrick began counting to ten.

But then Mikey was disappearing and reappearing right behind Brendon, barely giving the other enough time to turn around before he was kicking Brendon in the back of the shins. Brendon gasped loudly as he tumbled to the ground, curling in on himself to recover from the surprise amount of pain. Mikey appeared on the other side where he hoisted him up and punched him right in the nose. There was a horrible crack and Brendon tumbled back into the grass. He growled and wiped away blood pouring from his nose.

"You're fucking dead Way!" Brendon spat as he pushed himself up from the dirt. Mikey shrugged and took two steps back to disappear into thin air. A loud ringing noise began buzzing around the field, causing everyone to shift in discomfort. It seemed Brendon was trying to find the right frequency to take Mikey out.

"Make up your mind Urie!" Mikey teased as he appeared in one corner and immediately disappeared only to reappear in another. Brendon growled again. The ringing got louder.

"If only you could fight me instead of running around like a fucking coward!" Brendon shouted as Mikey appeared three feet in front of him. The two both took steps forward and Brendon threw a punch hard enough to knock Mikey to the ground. Mikey knocked Brendon off his feet and climbed on top of him. He managed to get a few punches in before Brendon was grabbing his arm tightly and Mikey yelled in pain. Brendon had found the right frequency.

"You're going to blow up my fucking head!" Mikey yelled, and Brendon's snarl seemed to soften. Mikey smirked and disappeared from Brendon's grasp. He cursed.

The minute Brendon had stood up Mikey was behind him, using an elbow to shove him back to the ground. He kicked him hard in the area no man ever wanted to get kicked in and threw a punch towards Brendon's jaw. Brendon made no attempt to get up.

Patrick started counting.

"Come on Bren!" Spencer shouted from the sidelines. "Victory sex! You have to win!"

"Shut up Spencer!" Mikey yelled back. He placed his foot on top of Brendon's chest as Patrick finished counting.

"Mikey Way is the winner!"

The crowd cheered loudly as Mikey accepted the high fives and slaps on the back. Dallon was rushing over to help Brendon stand up. Josh watched in amazement. If all of them were going to be that intense, then today was going to be a long day.

Dallon brought Brendon back to the table Josh sat at and placed a hand on pouting Brendon's broken nose.

"You did a good job," Josh said encouragingly, trying to offer up some support to Brendon. Brendon only scowled.

"I would have won if he wasn't hopping around all over the place. Fuck Mikey. Now I have to do his fucking work for the next three months."

"Maybe losing is a good thing Brendon. You need something to do instead of walking around being a jerk to everyone." Dallon pointed out with a smirk. Brendon pulled away from his touch.

"Maybe losing is a good thing Brendon," he mocked Dallon's college professor voice and stood up from the table. "Fuck you Dallon." The two watched him stroll over to Spencer across the field with snickers.

"Barakat and Saporta to the ring!" Patrick called, earning more cheers and whistles. Jack and Gabe proceeded to their desired corners. Gabe adjusted his sunglasses with a smile while Jack tugged on his shirt and ran a hand threw his hair. Josh focused all of his attention on the two extremely tall men. This was something he didn't want to miss.

The second Patrick said start, darkness began to surround Gabe. Jack was focusing extremely hard on making sure it was only on him.

The sky grumbled above them, letting the group know that Gabe was attempting to combat Jack's darkness. It started to sprinkle.

"I swear to God Gabe, if it starts pouring rain I'm going to kick your ass!" Brendon yelled from his seat. The rain cleared up slowly until it was a torrential downpour only on Jack. The darkness clumped together to reveal a smirking Gabe. He took two long strides over to Jack and closed his fist to swing. The rain disappeared the minute Gabe's fist came in contact with Jack's jaw.

"Fuck!" Jack called out as he stumbled backwards. He wiped the water out of his eyes and took his aim towards Gabe.

Gabe stepped out of the way as Jack swung, and lightning struck the spot Gabe had been standing seconds before, knocked a disoriented Jack to the grass. Jack laid there for about five seconds before pushing himself off the ground.

"Didn't think my method would be so electrifying did you?" Gabe grinned, causing Jack to clench his fists. The crowd groaned.

Gabe moved towards Jack, and the two of them disappeared in a cloud of darkness. Josh squinted to see if he could figure out what was going on. There was a loud grunt and Gabe was being shoved out of the cloud, Jack following suite. Darkness clumped around his hands as he uppercutted Gabe, sending his sunglasses flying off his face.

"Hah!" Jack cheered as Gabe grumbled and rubbed his jaw. He picked his sunglasses up and placed them back on his face. "Do you really need those Saporta?"

"Do you really gotta make yourself look like a skunk? You're already a pest."

Jack frowned and aimed for another punch, but Gabe had a similar idea. His fist connected with the side of Jack's head, sending the disoriented man tumbling to the grass. He rolled over with a grunt and tried to stand up, but Gabe kicked him hard in the stomach, causing Jack to curl in on himself. With one last kick, Gabe was the winner.

"We can never tell who's gonna win that one," Dallon explained as he leaned over for Josh to hear him over the roar of the crowd. "They are always switching winners."

"That was pretty intense," Josh responded, watching as Jack picked himself off of the ground. He sulked back to Alex, who kissed the top of his head and threw an arm around his shoulders. Gabe was proudly sauntering back to Brendon and Spencer, who clasped him on the back.

"Alex and Lynn!" Patrick shouted. Alex kissed Jack one last time before standing up and walking to his corner. Lynn had her hair pulled up and was grinning ear to ear. She cracked her knuckles.

"I can't fight a girl!" Alex complained with a groan. Lynn rolled her eyes.

"Are you afraid you'll lose?"

"More like I'm afraid I'll kick your fragile ass."

Lynn scoffed. "The only thing fragile here is your nose and I'll break it with one punch."

"You wish."

"Alright guys," Patrick cut in with a wave of his hand. "Three, two, one, fight!"

Lynn immediately reached out for a nearby tree, smiling viciously as her arm turned to wood. With a clenched fist she moved towards Alex.

Alex stood still, his breathing calm. His hand twitched slightly, the roaring sound of water growing louder and louder.

She came running with a loud growl, her fist swinging at Alex's chest when a huge stream of water hit her square in the face, sending her tumbling to the ground. Her arm went back to normal and she wiped water off her face.

"Gaskarth," she muttered angrily as Alex smirked.

"You snooze you lose." He moved in closer, the water still roaring behind him. Lynn clenched the ground and mud rose up her arm until it was a heavy dripping mess. She yelled loudly, hitting Alex directly in the nose. He stumbled backwards, the water dropping to the ground. He cursed loudly and used the back of his hand to clear mud from his face.

"You might want to take a shower after this," Lynn teased and she bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet. The mud drained away slowly.

"I'll help you out with yours," Alex growled as he flicked his wrist. Water once again rose behind him, but Lynn manged to duck out of the way this time around. She ran to the nearest tree and got the needed texture from the wood to slide up her arm. Alex scoffed.

She aimed for his face, but he ducked, sending a wave of water after her. Some managed to spray her, but most was sent dripping to the grass below. Lynn kicked his side, sending Alex to the ground. She cheered.

Then she punched him smack in the face, Alex groaning in pain. That was the equivalent of running into a tree and it couldn't have felt good.

"Come on Poseidon, don't disappoint your boyfriend! We don't need a loser couple." Alex grit his teeth and pushed himself off the ground. It was obvious he was not happy with that taunting insult.

Lynn attempted to hit him again but he grabbed her by the arm and shoved hard. She regained her balance and went towards Alex with another swing. He was able to duck and combated with an uppercut. Lynn cursed as she fumbled backwards.

"Yes!" Alex cheered. He swung again. Lynn ducked this time, and dropped to the ground. Patrick began counting, and Alex stared in confusion. He looked over at Jack who gave him a shrug.

Alex really shouldn't have done that.

Lynn slid between his legs and pulled on his ankles, causing him to slip and land hard on his back. She climbed on top and used the hard mud on the ground to beat the living shit out of him. He attempted to block, but she was good.

Lynn was the winner.

Hayley was cheering the loudest when Lynn walked back. People started congratulating her, and Dallon was rushing to Alex's rescue with a sigh.

Alex's face was a bloody black and blue mess, almost every part of him covered in mud. It was smeared on his face, in his hair and all over his clothes. Alex was furious, and Jack really didn't seem to be very happy as well.

Patrick was already calling out the next round. Hayley versus Gerard.

She skipped out to her corner with a smile while Gerard walked with his head held high. This was bound to be interesting.

The first thing Hayley did was morph into a perfect replica of Gerard. She used his shock to move behind him and get in one good punch before he was using his speed to get to the other side of the arena.

“If you’re doing that, do you have the speed?” Gerard called out. Hayley-Gerard nodded her head. She was across the field in seconds, matching Gerard’s pace perfectly.

It didn’t last long before she was panting. Gerard smirked and rammed into her as hard as he could. Hayley-Gerard landed hard on the ground with a whoosh of air.

She grunted as she pushed up, her appearance turning into Alex. Gerard’s mouth dropped.

“You can’t do that! That’s cheating!”

“We can use our powers man!” Hayley-Alex replied with a smile. She waved her arm and a small wave of water hit Gerard in the face. He wiped it away angrily.

He hit her again quickly and was on the other side before she could yell out in pain. Hayley-Alex spat out blood before morphing into Brendon. Gerard scoffed again and turned towards Patrick.

“This can’t be legal.”

Patrick shrugged. “She is using her powers.”

Hayley-Brendon smirked and Gerard clutched his head. She kicked him in the stomach, sending him to the grass.

“You’re falling behind Way!” Then she turned into Josh. He was a little unsure as to why she would be doing that.

Hayley-Josh grabbed Gerard by the shirt collar and slammed him into a tree. He was still disoriented enough to not struggle to get away, and she was managing to get in several hard punches. Okay, so maybe that was why.

It didn’t last long and she was changing her appearance again, this time back into herself. Gerard grunted as she let him go and took a few steps back. His nose was bleeding pretty badly, and he looked pissed as he wiped blood away.

Then he was a white blur, zooming back and forth and hitting Hayley each time he passed. Her appearance shifted several times, like her body couldn’t make up it’s mind.

When he stopped moving, Hayley was bent over, trying to catch her breath. Gerard had a smug grin on his face.

“You ready to give up Hayley?”

She shook her head. “Never.” With a smile she turned into Mikey and disappeared. Gerard spun in a circle, trying to locate her.

He didn’t see her punch coming.

Hayley-Mikey stood triumphantly with one foot on top of Gerard’s chest as Patrick called time. The crowd was cheering.

“K.O. by your own brother!” Real Mikey yelled, laughter following.

Dallon went to go help Gerard.

The rest of the matches were just as intense. Josh watched closely, trying to follow their every move. It was like watching a movie. Frank went against Pete, and Pete kicked his ass. Keegan went against Zack and got his ass kicked. The crowd was filled with enthusiasm; people were even calling rematches.

Then Tyler stood up from his spot at the table and walked to the center of the field. The crowd went silent.

“I want a turn,” he spoke to Patrick, his voice calm. He wasn’t even wringing his hands. Patrick nodded his head, still unable to wipe the shock from his face.

“Anybody want to have a go?” Nobody answered. Tyler sighed.

“Come on you guys, you can hit me. I’m not going to freak out.” Someone cleared their throat and the crowd parted to reveal Brendon sitting on the bench with a smirk on his face.

“I’ll take a shot. Got to redeem my winning streak somehow.” Tyler rolled his eyes.

“Alright Urie, take your best shot.” Brendon stood up and sauntered over to the opposite corner, the smirk never leaving his face. Everyone on the sidelines was quiet, their faces full of concentration.

“Tyler is going to kick his ass,” Dallon whispered. Josh nodded.

Patrick’s voice was shaky as he spoke. “Alright, uh, ready, get set, go!”

Tyler closed his eyes and breathed slowly. He didn’t move. Brendon cocked his head as he moved closer, confused to what he was doing. He prepared his fist for a punch.

Tyler easily caught Brendon’s attempt, his eyes still closed. Brendon whimpered as Tyler squeezed tightly, using his other arm to uppercut Brendon before flipping him to the ground.

Brendon cried out in anger. He quickly stood up and growled. Tyler winced in pain, his hands going to his head. He glared at Brendon.

“Bad idea,” he muttered as he moved closer. Brendon took a step back. Tyler swung for Brendon’s face but ended up hitting the tree behind him. He hissed in pain and turned on his heel, face flushed with fury.

Brendon grinned. He punched Tyler right in the face, a horrible cracking sound echoing throughout the woods. Tyler wiped blood away and dragged it down his shirt. His lips turned upwards in a snarl as he charged Brendon head on.

The two fell to the ground, Tyler elbowing Brendon in the stomach on the way down. Brendon grabbed Tyler by the hair and shoved him off, kicking him in the face for good measure. Tyler was growling again as he threw another punch. He rolled backwards and stood up before adjusting his stance.

Josh was starting to get worried. Tyler was getting really mad. And when Tyler got mad, good things did not happen. He bumped Dallon gently.

“Do you think we should stop him? I mean, can you feel the other guy?”

Dallon closed his eyes briefly. “I can feel him. But he’s just sitting there, waiting for something.”

“What if Tyler kills Brendon?”

Dallon shook his head. “That won’t happen.” He didn’t seem confident about his words.

Tyler and Brendon were still going at it. Brendon was trying to use his frequencies to give Tyler a terrible headache, but he wasn’t having it. It was like he didn’t even notice it was there. He was just continuously throwing punches and trying to avoid Brendon’s fists.

“Hello?” A voice called out loudly from the right side of the field, and a shaggy dark haired guy stepped out from the woods. He wasn’t wearing any shoes and his clothes were torn to hell. Brendon used this distraction to get a really good punch into the side of Tyler’s head, and suddenly Tyler was screaming. Dallon jumped up from his chair.

“He waited for that!” Dallon yelled as he tore across the field. Josh stood up frantically, watching as Brendon pulled away and tried to get far away from Tyler who wasn’t Tyler anymore.

Not-Tyler was laughing hysterically as Pete began yelling orders and Dallon was shouting for people to back up. Pete grabbed the dark haired guy from the woods and pulled him to the sidelines where everybody else was. Josh approached Blurryface without much thought, waiting to see what he would do.

“Oh Josh, you’re back.” He tilted his head and smiled viciously. Josh felt chills run throughout his body.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Josh said slowly, his hands held out in front of him. People around were staring at Josh like he was an escaped asylum patient. He had admit, what he was doing was extremely stupid.

Not-Tyler rolled his eyes. “You did a lot of stupid things Joshie. I told you to stay away from Tyler. I told you that you’re mine. And what did you do? You slept with him.” The crowd filled with murmurs and Josh resisted the urge to correct the evil super villain. They slept in the same bed, that was it.

“Nobody has to listen to you. I thought I told you to go away.”

Blurryface laughed bitterly. “You’re an idiot Josh. In fact, you are possibly the most idiotic human I’ve ever met, and I’m tired of playing with you.”

What happened next seemed like slow motion. Dallon started screaming, Pete came rushing towards them, and Not-Tyler was reaching out and grabbing Josh’s wrist.

Josh felt like every cell in his body was on fire. He couldn’t breathe, and really didn’t think his heart was working anymore. Josh was dying.

Pete’s body slammed into Not-Tyler and sent him rolling across the grass. Josh collapsed to the earth himself. He could still see, but black spots were clouding his vision. He couldn’t feel his arms and legs and the only thing he could hear was a low ringing noise. People were surrounding Josh, saying things Josh couldn’t hear. Maybe he was already dead.

His eyes followed Blurryface, who was using a nearby tree to hoist himself from the ground. The tree withered and turned an ugly shade of brown. Red eyes met his own, and with a malicious smirk, he was darting off into the forest, every tree he touched turning the same ugly shade of decay. Josh wanted to scream “come back,” wanted to yell “stop,” or say anything at all, but he didn’t think he had a voice anymore. Nobody bothered to go chase after Tyler; it was like they didn’t even realize he had disappeared. Josh wondered how long Blurryface would stay Blurryface before Tyler could take control again. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Tyler was supposed to be okay.

Josh had no doubt Not-Tyler was heading towards the city. He was going to go kill people again.

Dallon and Pete lifted Josh from the ground gently; Dallon was yelling something. Josh noticed the black running up his arm, matching the design of his own veins. It was just like the design he saw in his dream. How had he known that?

He wondered if the process of killing was done in steps. Maybe the brain was last. Josh could still think, but maybe his body was dead. He hoped Dallon could fix that. Josh really didn’t want to be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

They had already started the journey back towards the building, but Josh was getting tired. He wished Tyler had finished killing him.

It would have been a lot less painful than watching him run away and not being able to say anything about it.


	7. 007

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of self harm and mild violence!

Josh spent three days with his body paralyzed. He lay on his own bed, Dallon at his side at all times. Dallon, who always had a hand pressed against his head or laid across his arm. They had taken Josh’s clothes off of him and left him in only his underwear. It gave Dallon more room to operate.

Josh knew Dallon was trying to talk to him, trying to get Josh to speak, to move. Josh could see his lips moving, could see how beat to hell he was, but no matter what he did he couldn’t respond. Josh could barely breathe. The first day Dallon had spent all night with his hands placed loosely around Josh’s neck, trying to fix his lungs, to which he was thankful for.

Dallon poured water down Josh’s throat and tried to feed him as best as he could during the day. Sometimes Pete or Patrick or someone else would come in to see how he was doing. Josh was hopeful it would be Tyler, but it never was. He wondered if anyone had even gone out to look for him.

The concept of sleep became something lost on him. He found it quite difficult to do so when he had so many thoughts buzzing around his mind and couldn’t say any of them out loud. Dallon never slept. He looked dead.

On the fourth day when Josh woke up from two hours of sleep, he could hear Dallon stirring next to him. He still couldn’t move his arms or legs, but he could hear, and that was a start. Josh tried to say Dallon’s name but it came out as a strangled moan.

Alert in seconds, Dallon leaned over Josh and pushed down softly on his chest.

“Joshua? Can you hear me?” Josh let out another strangled moan.

“I know, I know it hurts, but we’re getting there. Everything is going to be ok, I promise.” Dallons voice cracked at the end and he sighed. “I thought you were dead Joshua. Your heartbeat was so faint, and your eyes looked glassy - I thought he had killed you.”

Josh attempted to look at his arm. Black still ran up his veins and he wondered if that was permanent. Dallon continued.

“It’s taking a while for your body to heal. A couple more seconds and you would have been legally dead. But you’re going to be okay. It’s just taking a little bit of time.”

Josh groaned again and prayed Dallon would know what he was talking about. He wanted to know about Tyler.

“I know you’re worried, but things are going to be okay. Everyone is okay. I don’t know if you remember, but there was that guy in the woods. His name is Brent and he’s with us now. He was lost and didn’t have a place to go, but he’s like us.” Dallon took a deep breath. “We still have no sign of Tyler. We have no idea where he is. Pete sent Mikey and Gerard after him, but so far the trail goes cold once he gets to the road. I’m sorry Joshua. This is not how I wanted things to go.”

Josh’s eyes were wet. He wasn’t sure why.

Dallon noticed tears sliding down Josh’s face. He shook his head sadly and used a finger to wipe one away.

“Its okay Joshua, please don’t cry. Tyler is fine. He’ll find his way back home. We are all worried about him, but he’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

Josh didn’t believe Dallon.

On the fifth day Josh could feel his toes and fingers, but his body hurt like hell.

He still couldn’t talk, but he could at least sit up. Dallon told him it was all about progress, and he was progressing very well. Pete came to visit, and Josh managed to smile. It was a terrible lopsided smile, but progress was progress and he couldn’t complain.

Josh was still in bed two days later, but all the feeling in his body had come back. His heart was beating normally and he could breath just fine. He even had his voice back.

Dallon looked like a dead man walking. His hair was a mess, his eyes were dark and his face was hollow. He looked liked someone that hadn’t slept in years.

“Dallon,” Josh said weakly when he came out of the bathroom, “You really need to get some sleep.” Dallon waved it off like it was nothing.

“Nah. I can’t do that. Not when you need help. Besides, I can feel your worries, your pain. I’m not getting to sleep any time soon.”

Josh sighed. His eyes drifted to his arm, where he began to closely inspect the black that lined his veins. It crisscrossed over and under his arm; part of it even ran through his tattoo. It didn’t look like something that could go away with a wash.

“What’s this Dallon?” he decided to ask. Dallon sat down next to him and reach for Josh’s scarred arm. 

“That’s not ever going away,” he said sadly. “You’ll be permanently branded with Blurryface’s touch.”

“He could have killed me,” Josh said slowly, the realization finally kicking in, “He was waiting to kill me. But he didn’t because of you and Pete. Oh my god.”

“He’s drawn towards human energy, it was going to happen eventually. Pete and I were just doing our jobs. I just, I can’t imagine how afraid Tyler is right now. He’s seeing evil kill so many people and must be terrified.”

“Tyler is going to blame himself for this,” Josh replied, gesturing to himself. “It wasn’t his fault. I hope he sees that because it wasn’t his fault and I’m so worried about him. Nobody even knows where he is. Do you know how much that scares me? I know he can’t exactly die, but I’m afraid that,” Josh trailed off and tried to catch his breath. Dallon pressed a warm hand to Josh’s cheek for a few seconds. He then grabbed the glass of water sitting on the bedside table and gave it to Josh who downed it in seconds. “I’m afraid something terrible will happen.”

“Tyler can take care of himself Joshua, don’t worry about that. Just realize that he probably is afraid, and he will blame himself, but that’s not his fault. You and I know that.” Josh nodded his head.

“Dallon, I know you’re tired and you’ve been helping me so much, but can I ask one more favour of you? It’s been a week and I really need to take a shower.”

Dallon let out a small chuckle. “Of course. I’ll help you there.”

“I don’t know where I would be without you. I’m in so much debt to you Dallon.” Josh smiled and leaned forward to pull Dallon into a hug. Dallon rubbed Josh’s back gently.

“I’m only thankful you’re alive. Now let’s get you that shower.”

 

\---

 

It had been two weeks since Josh’s near death experience and Tyler still hadn’t come home.

Josh was still on bed rest, so it wasn’t like he was doing much anyway, but that didn't mean he wasn't worried. Everyday he asked Dallon what he knew and Dallon would say the same thing: there was no sign of Tyler. Josh hoped that Tyler really was okay.

Dallon didn’t spend as much time watching over Josh these days, as Josh was improving greatly. He was able to get sleep and felt a lot better, which was comforting to Josh. He also kept Josh updated.

“Tell me about the new guy,” Josh asked politely one afternoon when Dallon came in to check on him. He had brought him a water bottle.

Dallon sighed and watched Josh twist the cap and drink half of it before coming up for air. “He’s different. Brent’s got a weird energy. He’s always looking around and asking questions.”

“What can he do? Anything interesting?”

“Nothing you would enjoy. It’s kind of freaky actually. He can get inside your head and turn your nightmares into reality. Of course, they aren’t real, but the hallucinations make it feel _very_ real.”

“Dang,” Josh replied. He took another drink from the bottle and leaned back against the wall.

“Yeah, it’s pretty dark. Like I said, he’s got weird energy. None of us have really figured out his personality to know if he’s got the guts to do that to anyone yet.”

“Is he nice?”

Dallon shrugged. “He’s not the worst person I’ve ever met.”

“Did you guys tell him about me?”

“Pete said we had a human living with us and he seemed to be really excited about it. He didn’t complain or anything so I think you’ll get along just fine.”

Josh nodded. He took a deep breath immediately after. “Have you guys heard from Tyler yet?”

“No. I’m sorry Joshua.”

“But do you think he’ll come back? Where else would he go?”

“You have to remember that Tyler hasn’t left the building in three years. It’s been awhile since he’s gone into the real world. He most likely doesn’t remember where everything is, or he’s hiding out somewhere. Every time he takes one step forward it’s two steps back because of the other guy. It’s not anything he really has control of.”

“Do you think Tyler could ever get control of his evil side? Like to the point where he could shift between the two sides easily?”

Dallon was quiet as he thought about his answer. After about a minute he said “I think he could. If he focused enough and didn’t let Blurryface overpower him. He’s too emotional. Ty would have to clean that up a little before he even thought about doing that.”

“He says he likes when the other guy is angry,” Josh confessed. He looked away from Dallon so he didn’t have to see his facial expression.

“What do you mean?”

“We were uh, kissing. And he told me the other guy was angry because we were doing that, but he wasn’t, and that it felt good. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I guess it’s easier for him to keep control when they are experiencing two completely different emotions?”

“I can see where you’re coming from. Tyler was very angry the night Brent showed up, and I could sense the other guy was too. If you’re both angry, it’s easier to get swept up by emotions.”

“But if someone is angry and you’re happy, you’re not immediately going to change the way you’re feeling by looking at that person.”

“Exactly.” Dallon grinned. “I think we figured out how it works!”

“If only Tyler was here so we could tell him that.” Josh sighed loudly and ran a hand threw his hair. He wanted to see Tyler _so badly_. “When do you think I’ll be able to move around again?”

“Soon. You’re doing a lot better than expected. I know everyone will be very happy to see you. I told them about the uh,” Dallon pointed to the black lines that ran up Josh’s arm, “so nobody will ask about that.”

“It’s weird,” Josh commented as he raised his arm to examine it. “It’s weird that it’s there. I’m not freaking out that it's there, but it’s weird. It’s like getting used to having another tattoo or something.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Dallon grinned and Josh rolled his eyes.

“So soon then? Like how soon?”

“Probably the end of the week. I just want to make sure you’re doing okay and that everything is working properly. You did almost die you know.”

Josh groaned and rolled over onto his face. “Do you know how hard it is to be stuck in one place all day? It’s so boring!”

“All I got from that was a lot of mumbling.”

He rolled back over. “I’m bored. I don’t like sitting here. And I really want to hit something.”

“You’ll be back to normal in a few more days, don’t worry. Have some patience Joshua. It’s a good trait to have.”

“I don’t have the patience to develop patience,” Josh muttered. Dallon shrugged.

“Just a few more days.”

 ---

 

Those “few more days” seemed like years to Josh.

The minute Dallon allowed him to leave the room, Josh was scrambling to change into clean clothes and was barreling down the hallway. The air felt fresher and Josh felt so much better. His room was starting to get stuffy.

The first place he went was Patrick and Pete’s room. He didn’t even bother knocking, just barreled right through the door with a giant smile on his face, which turned to a deep blush when he realized the two were having a deep make out session and he had just interrupted.

“Fuck! Josh!” Pete yelled as he pushed Patrick to the side and rushed to pull his shirt back on. Patrick adjusted his glasses with a smirk and waved.

“Good to see you Josh!”

“I’m sorry! I should have knocked!” Josh cried as he scrambled to find the door handle. He had one foot out the door when Patrick was pulling him back in.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m really glad to see you're feeling better.”

“Yeah,” Pete agreed as he sat down on the bed. His face was back in a scowl. “Not many people can survive what you did, so two and a half weeks of recovery really isn’t that bad.”

“You’re really lucky.”

Josh nodded his head. “It’s my fault for thinking I was invincible. I wanted to thank you again Pete for practically saving my life. If he would have held on for a few more seconds I would have been dead. So I really appreciate it.”

“Well I wasn’t about to let you die. We had to try something. I just feel terrible for not stopping Tyler. God knows where he is right now.”

“You’re only one person Pete,” Patrick argued as he reached for Pete’s hand. “It’s not like you could have done everything at once.”

“And it was chaotic as well,” Josh added. “a lot was going on in a short amount of time. I’m sure Tyler is okay. He’ll come home soon.”

Pete sighed. He looked down at his and Patrick’s entangled hands before speaking. “He hasn’t been out there by himself in such a long time. Poor kid is probably scared out of his mind.” Josh couldn’t disagree with that.

“How did Tyler become leader? Can I ask that?”

“Tyler was around fifteen or sixteen when he first realized what he could do. His parents realized way after he did, and by the time they did realize what was going on with their son, Tyler had already killed all the plants in and around their house and the dog. They were terrified. But you already know how that ended.” Josh nodded.

“He escaped one night years later and took off running with nothing but a backpack full of clothes and a hundred bucks he had saved. But he turned when running, and I found him standing over a corpse in an alleyway that night. He was crying. I could immediately tell the kid wasn’t human, so I took him back to my place. It was a shitty apartment on the edge of town, kind of like yours, and it had been just Patrick and I at the time."

"I wasn't happy at first, that Pete was bringing home some random kid off the street. But Tyler looked so lost and stressed out that I knew we had to help him out."

Pete nodded. "We explained things to him, told him what we were and what we could do. He didn’t like that very much.”

“He’d always leave in the middle of the night and we’d have no idea where he went. Pete and I figured he was going out and killing people or something.” Patrick shook his head sadly. “But we couldn’t contain him.”

“But one day he came back and told us he found more like us, people that could do extraordinary things. He said they were scared and confused like him. He said we should create a safe place for people like us.”

“It was a great idea. So we did just that. We found a place and we fixed it up and we welcomed people.”

“Tyler was a lot more, uh, in charge back then. But he started doing stuff that we weren’t even aware he was doing. And he got angry.”

“I remember the day he came back with all those tattoos.” Patrick chuckled softly. “He went downstairs and locked himself away. Nobody even dared to ask him if anything was wrong.”

“We were so stupid,” Pete said quietly. He stared at the wall in front of him. “We should have paid more attention. We should have checked, should have said something, but we didn’t. He left one night and didn’t come back home for three days. We were scared out of our minds. Mikey volunteered to go look around town, and when he came back, he had this horrible expression on his face. He looked so scared.”

“'Massacre,' he said. Hundreds of people around the city found dead and all with the same design clouding their veins. The news called it a serial killer, but we all knew the truth.”

“Windows were smashed; some homes had ‘BF’ tagged on the walls. He killed all those people. He killed and Tyler had to sit there and watch.”

“Oh my God,” Josh whispered. Poor Tyler. _Oh, poor Tyler._

“That was when he made us put the deadbolt and chains on the door downstairs,” Pete continued, his voice wavering. “He tried to kill himself. He cried for days and didn’t eat anything. Countless times I tried to help but he would just turn me down. He turned everyone down. We were so worried about him.”

“Dallon went into his room one day to see him digging a knife into his arm. He had told him he wanted to die, to ‘just let him die,’ but as we already established, none of us are quite sure if Tyler can die when he can just save himself and repeat the process all over again. But that’s beside the point. Dallon healed him and left him to his own devices.”

“It seemed like months before Tyler seemed calm enough to talk to people. He asked if I could take the lead and of course I said yes. He was in charge of this operation, he had created it, so I couldn’t say no. The first thing I remember about that conversation were his hands. They were covered in that thick tar-like paint he always wears and I wasn’t sure why he was doing that. But he looked so defeated. So done with life that he gave up on trying. Maybe that’s why the other guy has been in control so much recently.”

“You don’t know why that stuff is on his hands?” Josh asked. He refused to look up from his own.

“No. He’s never told anyone.” Pete suddenly shifted and put a hand on Josh’s shoulder. He pulled away from Patrick and forced Josh to look at him. “Did he tell you?”

“He doesn’t like his hands,” Josh was calm and struggling not to change his tone, “because he had to watch them kill people.” Pete pulled away while Patrick drew a sharp intake of breath. Had Tyler really not told anyone that?

Why had he told Josh?

“He told you.” Pete began pacing the room frantically. He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “Why did he tell you?”

“I figured it wasn’t a big deal!” Josh shrugged. “He said it nonchalantly, like he told everyone it. I didn’t know.”

“He trusts you Josh,” Patrick said excitedly as he pushed up from the bed. “Can you imagine! Tyler, trusting someone!”

“You better not let him down.” Pete glared at Josh from across the room, not a trace of friendliness left in his voice. “That kid does not need any more let downs in his life.”

“I’m not going to let him down. I’m worried beyond belief about him!” Josh paused to rake a hand through his hair, sighing in annoyance for forgetting to put on a hat. “Did you guys ask Mikey to check the news? Anything about murders? I mean, it’s been two weeks. That’s a lot more time than Tyler’s last escape. Nobody is telling me anything about him and I’m starting to think he’s gone forever, and I don’t want him to be gone forever. I’ve been here a month. Give or take, half that month I spent trying to come out of death, but things aren’t changing and I need to know if he’s okay.”

“As far as I know, there hasn’t been anything about murders. So maybe Tyler didn’t even make it that far. The other guy could have killed a bunch of squirrels for all we know. But Josh, just give him time.”

“I’ve given him time,” Josh muttered, but he knew they were right. He had to be patient. Josh decided to change the subject. “What do you guys think of the new guy?”

“Who, Brent?” Pete asked as he sat down on the other unused bed. He shrugged. “He’s nosy as fuck, but besides that he’s keeping to himself. I’m kind of ticked he showed up at the time he did, but that wasn’t his fault.”

“He’ll be nice to you, don’t worry.” Patrick grinned. “He’s been talking with Brendon and Spencer a lot if you want to go talk to him.”

“Maybe.” Josh still wasn’t sure about this guy. He was afraid he might make Brent mad and end up being terrorized by his own nightmares. That didn’t sound like too much fun.

“Well even if you don’t, you gotta leave. ‘Trick and I were kind of in the middle of something.” Pete said with a smirk, causing Josh to blush. He stood up quickly and felt for the door.

“Uh, yeah, of course. I’m going right now.”

Josh left quickly.

 ---

 

He never did actively seek out Brent. Josh figured he would run into him eventually. Instead, he passed time by aimlessly wandering the halls, playing drums loudly, and talking to people. Once he even visited the gym, but Josh didn’t think he was going to do that again for a while.

Mikey updated Josh on Tyler's status whenever he saw him, but there was still nothing.

“Gerard is looking all around the county, and even ones past. He’s looking really hard. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

Everyone kept saying that, but Josh didn’t know if he believed it.

It was a Tuesday afternoon when Josh ran smack into Brent.

He had stumbled backwards and apologized quickly, but Brent passed it off as nothing. "Don’t worry about it! It’s good to finally meet you! I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have?” Josh asked, puzzled.

“Yeah. And I want to apologize for uh, almost getting you killed.”

“That wasn’t your fault. I was just stupid.”

He laughed loudly. “You’re human too. That’s so fascinating. What is it like?”

“Uh...” That was a question nobody had ever asked Josh. “It’s alright, I guess. I don’t know. Nobody has ever asked me that before.”

“Would you ever want to be like us? Have cool abilities and whatnot?” Brent was smiling really big and it was starting to make Josh uncomfortable. Maybe this is what Pete meant by him being quote “nosy as fuck.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it.”

“You’re living with talents and you’ve never thought about it before?”

“It’s never come to mind. I guess it’d be cool, but it’d have to be something I would like. If I get to choose in this ‘what if’ situation.”

“Do you think the human race in general would be better off?”

“Uh, I dunno. I think what makes all these people special is that they can do what others can’t. If everyone can do the same thing, no one is really unique, you know?”

“Exactly. It will deflate some egos!” Brent laughed loudly and Josh awkwardly laughed with him. This whole exchange was not the first exchange Josh had in mind. “I think the world would be a lot better off if they could do what we could.”

Josh shrugged. “I guess.”

“You have to look at the whole picture here Josh. The universe is a lot bigger than just us on Earth.” he rested a hand on Josh’s shoulder to which Josh had to resist the urge to shrug it off. Brent looked behind them before leaning in closer. “What if we could make everyone the same? Think about it. There could be peace. We could all help one another.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m talking about making humans like us. Giving them abilities. Teaching them how to use their powers. Making the world population stronger in defense and intelligence. What if?”

“Why are you telling me this? I mean, of all people. Why me?”

“Josh, I have been wandering around the country in search of people like me. I’ve had this idea in my head for years now. I finally find a clan and I find a human, a real actual normal average human, living with people like me. You know what we can do. So what if you could do it too?”

“I don’t think I would want that. It just seems like a burden.”

“You said being human was ‘alright.’ We could make your life perfect. We could change the world.”

“But could you even do that? How would you do that?”

“Josh, scientists can grow a fetus in a lab. We can splice DNA together. We can grow modified vegetables and fruits. We can put an ear on a mouse. The possibilities are endless. So why couldn’t we do this?”

“I don’t -”

“You could live forever Josh. You could be something outstanding.” Brent tapped the side of his head with a finger. “I can see your worst nightmares man. I know what you’re afraid of. That guy that’s missing? You’re afraid you aren’t good enough. You know one day you’re going to die and he’s won't. You’re afraid something bad will happen. I, _we_ Josh, can change that. You won’t have to be afraid anymore.” He sighed. “And lets be real here Josh, these people treat you like you’re lower than them and you aren’t. That could change as well.”

“Are you asking me to be your test subject? Because that’s really fu-”

“I’m asking you to be my partner Josh. We could fix the world.” He raised an eyebrow and tightened his grip on Josh’s shoulder. Josh shifted uncomfortably. “Think about my offer.”

With one more smile Brent was letting go and turning to leave. Josh sighed with relief. Dallon was right, this guy gave off some seriously weird vibes.

“Oh, and Josh?” There was a flicker of something sinister in Brent’s eyes. “If you tell anybody, I’m going to have to do something really bad to you. Nobody likes being terrorized by their worst nightmares, do they?” Then he was shuffling away, leaving Josh in a state of shock. That was certainly not something Josh expected to hear.

And he was terrified.

 

\---

 

Josh tried his best to avoid Brent for the rest of the week, and he was doing a damn good job of it. He hadn’t told anybody, per Brent’s request (and for the sake of his sanity) but he really wanted to tell someone how much of a nutcase this guy was.

It was a Saturday when Josh was walking with Pete and helping him do some routine management. They were doing inside security checks in the back room when the heavy metal door groaned loudly. Pete looked at Josh for a brief moment before going to the door. He rested his head against it, not daring to breathe. Josh held his breath as well.

Someone knocked.

Josh shot Pete a look of worry before Pete unlocked the door and yanked it open. Josh almost shouted for joy when he realized who it was.

Tyler was a mess. His clothes were shredded to hell and covered in blood, dirt, and grime. His hair was matted to his forehead with sweat and he was in desperate need of a shave. You really couldn't sugarcoat it: Tyler looked awful.

“Tyler? Oh my god!” Pete was pulling him in and slamming the door shut loudly. He hugged Tyler tightly.

Tyler didn’t hug back.

He hadn’t even said a word yet, only looking around the room with his dark eyes and tapping his foot impatiently. When Pete let go, he stood up as straight as possible and cleared his throat.

“We were worried about you. I sent Mikey and Gerard out to find you, but -”

“We didn’t make it into the city,” Tyler interrupted, his voice monotone. “I didn’t kill anyone. Can’t say the same for wildlife, but no people.” His eyes moved over to Josh across the room, who was frozen on the spot. They widened and Josh knew what he was staring at.

“It wasn’t you Tyler, you didn’t -”

“You’re an idiot Josh. How many times have I told you it IS me? I almost killed you. You got hurt because of me.”

Josh moved closer, his hands held out in front of him. “I was stupid Tyler, I got too close. That wasn’t your fault. You weren’t in control, you couldn’t make decisions. I’m okay! I’m fine!”

“It doesn’t fucking matter if I wasn’t _in control._ I realize you’re too stupid to understand this Josh, but him and I, we are the same person. You see those black marks that are now running up your arms? That means you were dead. You should be dead. That’s my fault. I have to deal with that. It doesn’t matter.”

Josh got closer. “I was worried about you Tyler, you could have gotten hurt, or -”

He laughed bitterly. “Could have gotten hurt by what Josh? Myself? I’m a monster. I should have never gotten involved with you. I should have never let myself trust you. And you,” he pointed a finger at Pete who was standing quietly next to him, “you should have killed me when you had the chance.”

“Tyler,” Josh begged. He didn’t want Tyler to feel this way. He was supposed to be making things better. “Please don’t do this.”

“Just shut up Josh. You’re nothing to me.” Then Tyler was shoving Josh out of the way and disappearing down the hallway.

Josh swallowed his need to cry.


	8. 008

Josh didn’t talk to Tyler for an entire month.

He wanted to. Oh, did he want to so badly. Countless times did he stand at the top of the staircase debating whether or not he should go say something to him, but Josh never did go through with it. He couldn’t. He knew how Tyler felt and it pained him to know he felt that way. He wanted to tell Tyler it wasn’t his fault, that he couldn’t blame himself, that Josh cared so much about him and all he wanted to do was kiss him again. He wanted to see Tyler smirk and flaunt around with all his confidence. He wanted to be intimidated by Tyler, wanted to moan his name as Tyler bit his collar bone and kissed his jaw. He wanted to see Tyler in all his beauty, wanted to hear his voice, wanted to _touch_ him.

It _killed_ him that he might not be able to do that ever again.

Josh tried to occupy his time by settling into his surroundings. He helped Pete do routine checks and create lists for supply runs. He helped in the kitchen to make meals. He helped Gerard and Mikey do perimeter checks; they even piled into Pete’s car (Pete made it very clear that if anyone did anything to his car he would “break their fucking neck”) and took Josh on a supply run. Josh talked to people, he forced himself to go to the gym, he played drums until his knuckles bled. He needed all these distractions.

His bruises had faded and he was starting to look like a normal person again. Josh felt comfortable in his own skin, in his own clothes, in his own environment. But no Tyler.

Josh had dreams. He couldn’t call them dreams exactly; they were more like nightmares. Tyler was always involved somehow. Sometimes he’d watch Tyler scratch his arm until he bled and curl into a dark corner. Sometimes he’d watch Blurryface murder for sport, his horrible, bitter laugh echoing in the background. Sometimes Tyler would just be sitting at his desk counting, the record player crackling in the background. Josh was confused to why he was having so many dreams about Tyler. It seemed it was the only thing he was dreaming about since arriving. Surely it couldn’t just be because he missed Tyler? There had to be a scientific reason.

Josh had so many questions. Probably too many questions.

“You look like you need a drink,” Brendon had declared one night as he slid into the seat next to Josh. It was a little past midnight, and Josh was too filled with thoughts to sleep. He had taken a walk and somehow found himself in the dining room, pondering over his questions at a far table in the back.

Josh chuckled. “Yeah, maybe.”

“How have you been doing dude?” Brendon looked actually sincere and that surprised Josh. He shrugged.

“I’m alright. It’s just weird. All of this. I’m still trying to get used to dealing with living here and healing.”

“Then there’s Tyler.”

“Yeah. Then there’s Tyler.”

Brendon leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up onto the table. He took a deep breath. “Can I tell you something Josh?”

“Er, yeah. Sure.”

“I was a terrible child. Horrible. The absolute worst. I drove my parents nuts. They would tell me to do one thing and I’d do the opposite. When they took me to church, I used to sneak out and go find someone who could offer me a cigarette or a drink. I craved attention. I slept with whoever offered. I mean, Jesus Christ, I lost my virginity at 13.” Brendon dragged a hand down his face and stared at the wall in front of them. “They tried so hard man. They wanted me to be their perfect little son. It was always, ‘Brendon, why can’t you be more like your brothers? Brendon, can you stop acting like a whore? Brendon, we don’t tolerate that kind of behavior in our household.’ They finally kicked me out of the house.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was fucking 18 years old, I had no job, no house, no friends. I was smoking joints under a bridge in Vegas and sleeping with people for money. And then, to make things even worse, I found out I could fucking blow people’s heads up. I could interrupt radio stations and explode literally anything. I could change the way things sounded.” His voice suddenly dropped an octave and he looked at Josh with large, fear stricken eyes. “Josh, I killed someone. By accident. I got angry. He was touching me, grabbing at me, saying horrible things, and I killed him. God, there was so much fucking blood, and I ran. I ran so fast and so far and I went into hiding. I couldn’t believe, I still can’t -” Brendon choked.

And then he was crying.

Josh didn’t know what to do. Brendon, he didn’t cry. He made shitty puns and acted like a douchebag for kicks. Now he was sobbing into his hands and Josh felt so bad. He rested a hand on Brendon’s back.

“Shh, it’s okay Bren. We all make mistakes.”

Brendon sat up and sniffed. He shook his head. “I am such a shitty human being. I feel like, maybe if I can put on this tough guy douchebag persona, people will think I’m all shits and giggles. Maybe, just maybe, they won’t see all the fucking pain and fear I have stored up inside of me.” He wiped away tears and shifted his position so his feet were on the floor. Brendon, however, did not look at Josh. “Tyler, he found me. He told me there were people like me. That he was like me. The kid was a few years younger than me and I didn’t believe him at first. It took a lot of convincing for me to follow him back here. Tyler, he seemed so hopeful. So full of life. He was always smiling and welcoming and patient. I didn’t expect things to go so sour for him.

“But I met Spencer here. And he made me feel safe. I felt peace around him. And that wasn’t just him fucking around with my emotions. That was me.” Finally, Brendon was looking at Josh with a hopeful smile. He ran his fingers through his mop of brown hair. “I’m in a better place now. Tyler? He isn’t. He’s in a shitty place, and I know what that’s like. But you Josh? I know you make him feel better about himself. I know he trusts you. You guys have a bond I’ve never seen before. I mean, a talent having any sort of bond with a human? That’s crazy. It’s unheard of.” Brendon pushed out of his chair and offered a hand to Josh. “You guys might be suffering right now, but things are going to get better. Now come on. I owe you a drink.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Josh whispered, but Brendon offering wasn’t what concerned him. It was the fact that Brendon had basically called him and Tyler soulmates. That couldn’t possibly be true. Tyler was gonna be around for a long time and Josh was not.

“Dude, I just turned the conversation into a sappy romantic comedy. Spoiler alert, but it isn’t going to end with us fucking in the broom closet. Now come on, let me earn back my man card.”

“I uh,” Josh paused. “Just, thanks. For sharing. That means a lot.”

“Of course man. You’re family now. And when family struggles, your annoying older brother has to be there to bring you back up.” Brendon grinned, and Josh felt heat surround his body like armor. He couldn’t help but to return the smile.

Brendon’s car ended up being an red Chevy impala and Josh was very impressed.

“1972,” he stated proudly. “You do anything to it and I’ll hurt you.” Josh nodded his head. He enjoyed listening to Brendon sing quietly to himself as they drove into town. The radio stations flickered through by themselves until Brendon found a song he liked, and once it ended the process started over again. It was still strange, even after all that time.

Josh stared out the window and watched all the trees zoom by in the thick darkness. The moon was covered by clouds tonight, and the headlights made a thick slash through the fog.

“Where did you get a car like this?” He said suddenly before his brain could comprehend what his mouth was up too. Brendon laughed.

“It was my dad’s car. I stole it from him.”

“Uh, well, that’s efficient I guess.”

“Where did you grow up Josh? Everything around here is stolen. You seem surprised by that.”

“Ohio,” Josh mumbled as he focused on the rising city lights. He wondered if Brendon’s idea of a good time was taking him to a strip club. He didn’t feel like having a drink there. What Josh did want was a low key bar tucked quietly away with a baseball game playing on the TV in the corner and two other men playing a game of pool in the other.

“Ohio,” Brendon repeated in a singsong voice. He cracked his neck. “Callahan Auto.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “Columbus, not Sandusky.”

“So how did you end up in Cali then?”

“I was an idiot,” Josh stated firmly. He folded his arms across his chest and prayed they were close.

“I banged my best friend’s sister idiot or I forgot my homework idiot?”

“Neither. I got involved in the drug trade. Stupid. I was stupid, it was stupid, everything was stupid.”

“Doing drugs doesn’t make you an idiot Josh, it makes you a normal person. Man, the amount of weed I’ve smoked would blow-”

“It’s not that Brendon, it’s the fact that I helped carry illegal drugs 2000 miles across America and when I tried to get out of it they beat me up and threatened to kill my family. That’s what makes me an idiot.”

“So you went into hiding then.” All traces of snarkiness had left Brendon’s voice.

“Yeah. Five years and they found me. But then I found you guys.”

“That’s what you were doing when we found you? Hiding?”

Josh nodded. They were in the city now; Brendon was making a turn down a shady looking street.

“Uhm, we’re almost there. It’s a quiet place. We can talk.”

“I’ve got questions.”

“You can ask them all.”

\---

 

“How does the ‘powers’ thing work?” Josh asked the minute the had sat down at the bar and the bartender had set down two beers. Brendon was already chugging his; Josh hadn’t touched it.

Brendon wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slammed the bottle down on the counter top. He tilted his head to the side. “That’s kind of a vague question.”

“Well you said you found out you could do weird stuff at 18, Tyler found out at 16... how does that work? Do you know you’re not human?”

“Ahh.” he stroked his chin for a few seconds before taking another drink. Josh attempted to drink his; he never had been a fan of alcohol in general but he wanted to feel a little bit tipsy - it’d probably make him feel a lot better. “It depends. Families, they’re aware, but it could happen to anyone and it doesn’t happen to everyone. Every one of our species has advanced eyesight and hearing, you know, the basics. But the talent thing, it skips around. It skipped a generation in my family. My parents and their siblings couldn’t do anything. I don’t think any of my brothers or sisters got anything. We were never taught it was going to happen to us. I guess my parents didn’t think it would. But it did, and God did it freak me out.”

“Probably freaked Tyler out too,” Josh added. He took a very long swig, Brendon keeping close watch on him.

“No shit Sherlock, everything the guy touches dies.”

“But he can bring stuff back to life. That’s helpful. He could save lives or something.”

“And that doesn’t seem shady to you? It’s upsetting the natural balance of the universe. Creatures die everyday, but nothing comes back to life. There’s a catch Josh. Tyler, he knows what that catch is, but the man ain’t about to tell any of us.” Brendon finished off his beer and waved the bartender over for another one. “I feel guilty you know. For making him so angry at the match. I was being cocky, I should have thought things through, and you could have died. Jesus Christ man, you could have _died!_ ”

Josh glanced down at his arm with the dark scarring and sighed. “I didn’t die. It wasn’t your fault. It was nobody’s fault but mine. End of discussion.” Brendon shrugged and tugged the sleeves of his jacket further over his hands. “I have another question.”

“Ask away.”

“Do you guys, er...” Josh paused. He was racking his brain to figure out how he wanted to phrase this next sentence. “Are there things you are capable of doing but haven’t reached the ability to do it yet?”

“Well duh. It’s like learning how to drive a car. You have to practice control and safety before you can do doughnuts in the parking lot.” Brendon scratched behind his ear and watched a car pass out in front of the bar. “I’m still learning Josh. There are things I can do that I don’t know I can do yet. It takes years and years of practice.”

“Next question. You said humans and talents really didn’t interact with one another. Is that because you guys stay secret? Has no one really ever interacted or got into a relationship with a human?”

“A lot of talents believe they are superior to human beings just because of what they can do. Even the ones without powers. We thrived differently than the human race did and we benefited from it. There was no need to interact with them.”

“What if a human and a talent had a child? What would happen then?”

“I guess it would be up to the DNA coding. The child would probably be steryl and not live very long. It’s like creating a Liger. You aren’t meant to mix and match species. A frog can’t mate with a bear and expect to have a healthy child.”

Josh nodded his head in agreement. It made sense. He opened his mouth to talk, but Brendon beat him too it. “Are you worried Josh?”

His face twisted in contortion. “Worried about what?”

“You and Tyler. Where things could go. Brent said you were worried about that.”

“He told you that?” Josh didn’t like that. In fact, he was very upset about that.

“He told me you’ve been having nightmares. I’m sorry, I know those are personal, and I’m not going to share them with anyone.” He paused to take a drink and Josh could feel his left eye twitching. Guess nothing really was private after all. “You guys can’t have sex then?”

And now Josh was not only angry, but was also embarrassed as hell. He also somehow felt compelled to actually talk to Brendon about it. Who knew, maybe it would help.

“Tyler’s afraid he’ll switch in the middle of something. He doesn’t want to be responsible for killing someone.”

“And that someone is you.”

“Uh, maybe. He get’s really aggressive. I don’t know if this is even what he wants. It could be the other guy messing with his brain, getting into his thoughts, stuff like that. I’m confused about the whole situation. It’s like the two of them are bipolar or something. Tyler acts one way, then he acts the opposite way. Blurryface won’t kill me and then he tries to. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“That first night you guys made out, who brought that out?”

“Tyler was in my room. He said he wanted to try something.”

“He gets aggressive?”

“Always manages to tear something. BF, he doesn’t like it. He hates Tyler, yet his has this weird possessive thing over him. He doesn’t want Tyler to be with anyone. And then he said he owned me, and if I did anything with Tyler it would end badly. We already saw he kept his promise.”

Brendon began rolling a piece of torn off napkin in between his thumb and forefinger. “Tyler doesn’t do relationships man. He does one night stands. He gets in and gets out. Then you come along, and suddenly our dear leader is interested in the pretty boy upstairs. Tyler is showing interest. He’s feeling something. Mr. Evil Super Villain doesn’t like that. He likes when people leave Tyler.”

“But I’m not leaving,” Josh finished quietly.

“He’s evil, but he’s not stupid. He sees where things are going. He’s scared. Scared Tyler might get control. So first he plays decoy. He makes Dallon and Tyler and you think he’s backing off. Then he strikes. You haven’t talked to Tyler since then. He probably thinks Tyler is safe. Tyler is his. Tyler isn’t going to fight anymore.”

“He’s in charge.”

“Jackpot. Things are back to normal. Except wait! You’re still here.”

“You think the moment he sees me Tyler will change?”

“I think a lot of shit is going to happen. The kid’s been raging in a civil war with himself for years. Now there’s a new ally being thrown into the mix.” Brendon leaned forward on his elbows. “Tyler enjoys making the asshole angry, because then he feels like he’s in charge. He’s got a lot of bite for his bark. Blurryface feels threatened by you Josh. I think having sex could be the best thing you do.” He rolled his shoulders and flashed a smirk. “But that’s just my opinion.”

Josh thought about Brendon’s words a lot after that night. Not only about Tyler, but about adaption, control, and progress. There were things these people could do and they didn’t even know it yet.

Even with one of his problems solved, he still had several left over. The dreams were getting worse, and he knew for a fact he couldn’t be making that stuff up on his own. The worst part was that they felt so _real_. It was getting to the point where Josh was afraid of going to sleep. He was starting to look like shit and people could tell.

Especially Dallon.

Josh had been minding his own business when Dallon pulled him into his bedroom and locked the door behind them. He pushed Josh down on the bed and began pacing back and forth as he chewed on his nails. Josh stared at him. He was too tired to fight Dallon on whatever was about to come out of his mouth.

“You aren’t sleeping.” He pointed a finger at Josh, his face masked with worry. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“You’re the genius, figure it out.”

Dallon rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to be a jerk about it. I know things with Tyler aren’t ideal at the moment, but-”

“Aren’t ideal? Dallon, I haven’t talked to him in a month. Things haven’t ever been ideal.”

“Then what’s the problem? You’re knee deep in thinking.”

Josh sighed. “I’m having nightmares. Terrible freaking nightmares and they never end Dallon. I can’t sleep because of them and I’m afraid to sleep because I know I’ll be woken up by another one. And they are all so terrible.”

“Well you’re still getting used to living here, maybe that’s why.”

“Mm, don’t think so. You see, there’s one very important factor in these dreams. They all involve Tyler. But they aren't wet dreams, they're a fucking massacre.” Dallon’s face filled with sympathy and he sat down on the bed next to Josh.

“Explain them to me.”

“Well I had one the day I came here. I was chained to the wall and Tyler, not Tyler, was laughing. Then he killed me. Then, I had a dream I was out in the woods and Tyler and Blurryface were separate people. Then he killed Tyler, and the whole vein thing happened. Except Dallon, that happened before I almost died. How could I have know that?” Josh shook his head. “Sometimes I’m watching Tyler hurt himself in his room. Sometimes I’m watching the other guy kill, and he’s laughing loudly. I just had one where I was looking at myself in the mirror, except it wasn’t me, it was frickin’ Tyler. And he looked dead to the world. I don’t understand what the hell is going on Dallon. Could you explain this to me?”

Dallon was quiet. He was trying to figure out a meaning, Josh guessed. He hoped Dallon knew because he didn’t want to be stuck watching Tyler die or hurt himself. It was torture.

He still hadn’t said anything so Josh said something else. “Brendon said there were things you guys could do that you didn’t know yet. Do you think this might be something?”

“It doesn’t make any sense. Nobody around here can mess around with dreams. Except Brent, but I don’t think he’s doing this. How would he know about all of this?”

“Only person who does is Tyler.”

“You should talk to him.” Dallon said quietly and Josh looked at him like he was crazy.

“Are you stupid? That’s definitely not going to happen.”

“Look at yourself Joshua. You look like you climbed out of a coffin and walked 300 miles in the burning heat. I think this is your brain telling you to make amends so you can get some rest.”

“Okay but that still doesn’t explain how I knew about the scarring before I practically died.”

“You probably saw something and you don’t remember it. Stuff like that happens all the time.”

Josh rolled his eyes with a long, over the top sigh and stood up. “I’m not talking to Tyler. That’s suicidal.”

Dallon crossed his arms and stood up straight. He really looked like an angry parent now. “And why is that?”

“Brendon thinks Blurryface believes he’s won and that I’m gone for good. He thinks that when Tyler sees me, all hell is going to break loose.”

“Brendon said that? Really?”

“Scouts honor. He said a lot of stuff that actually made a lot of sense.”

“Tyler’s given up Joshua, didn’t know if you knew that or not. I visited him the other day. The doors are bolted shut and he’s just laying in his office chair doing nothing. In fact, he’s probably spending more time as the evil super villain then himself these days.”

Josh scowled. “And you want me to go talk to him? Are you an idiot? Last time we talked he fucking _killed me_.”

“It takes Tyler a lot of strength to turn back to himself. He has to will himself. He has to fight. He might do that if he sees you.”

“He’s going to go AWOL if he sees me.”

“I’m trying to offer you a solution to your problem. If you don’t want to take my help, then don’t. It’s not up to me. I’m just trying to be reasonable. I want you to feel comfortable. I want to protect you. That’s my job.”

“It isn’t your job Dallon! I’m a grown man, I can take care of myself. I don’t know what compelled you to start acting like you’re my father, but you gotta cut the crap. I don’t want you to be my dad. My dad hates me. I want you to be my friend. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to leave now.” He pushed past Dallon with a clenched jaw and threw the door wide open so it banged against the wall.

Josh didn’t do much the rest of the day, but he did try to keep himself awake. He downed three cups of coffee, played drums for an hour and walked around the building, trying to stop and talk to everyone he ran into. But eventually Josh found himself back in his bedroom, his eyelids drooping shut, and he was falling asleep.

\---

Next thing he knew he was standing in an apartment building, police sirens echoing loudly outside. There was a slight, cool breeze; the windows were smashed revealing he was standing on the fifth floor. When Josh looked down, he realized there was a can of red spray paint in his hand, and the fresh fumes were strong.

On the wall in front of him was written ‘I care what you think, -BF’ and personally Josh found that to be a bit tacky.

But then he was moving, and he couldn’t control where he went. It was like he was watching a movie up close and personal. He turned the corner into a bedroom, and laid across the bed was a family: A mother, father, and three children, a boy and two girls. Their eyes were glassy, and the dark scarring ran across faces, arms, and legs.

Dead. All of them were dead.

There was sharp laughter which Josh recognized immediately. That was when he realized who he was.

It was the massacre.

Blurryface drew a weird symbol on the bedroom wall before dropping the can on the ground and kicking it away with his foot. He pulled a pocket knife from his jeans and approached the dead father draped across the bed. Josh couldn’t look. He tried to close his eyes but he couldn’t, because he couldn’t control his own body and it wasn’t even _him_ , it was the evil super villain side of Tyler who was slaughtering people.

He made a slit in the father’s arm and let the blood drain out onto his hands. And then he began coating his hands in it. Josh wanted to puke. Blurryface did the same thing with the mother and children before leaving the bedroom and going to the wall where he had left his tag. He went to work on covering the wall in bloody handprints.

Josh woke up.

His room was dark and he couldn’t breathe. His heart was pounding a mile per minute and he was drenched in sweat. Not to mention that Josh was really frickin’ terrified. There was absolutely no way he could have made that up. That was stuff you had to see to remember, and he was pretty sure he knew who remembered it.

Not that he was going to go talk to him. No, Josh wasn’t stupid. Instead, he was going to try and forget and go back to sleep. It didn’t take him very long before he was out cold.

This time, he was in a different place.

He sat on a bed covered in a black and blue plaid comforter, wringing his hands. The room had white walls; there was a desk against one wall and some plastic gold trophies on a shelf right above it. The window had thick grey bars over it, the door a thick wood with a rectangular cut out directly in the center.

Someone knocked. “I brought some food up for you sweetie,” a gentle voice said quietly and Josh watched as a sandwich wrapped in plastic was shoved through the door along with a hand. A long sigh came from Josh, one that he knew he did not make himself.

“I’m not hungry.” Josh recognized Tyler’s voice immediately. It was younger and far less mature, but Josh still recognized it.

So he was teenage Tyler.

“You have to eat honey.” Josh assumed that was his mother. She sounded worried, but her hand was shaking through the door.

“I’ll eat when I’m hungry. I’m not hungry.” Tyler’s tone was harsher, and something moved within his chest. The sandwich toppled to the floor and the hand disappeared.

“You know your father and I love you very much right? We have to protect you, and we have to protect your siblings. You know that right?”

“Why can’t Zack share a room with me anymore mom? Is he afraid of me too?”

“No one is afraid of you sweetie, we just want you to be safe. We need you to be safe in case you-”

“You are all scared of me! I can’t help it mom! I’m scared too! I can feel that thing inside of me and I don’t like it! Mom! I killed our dog!” Tyler broke down into tears and he wrapped his arms around himself. Josh could hear his mother sobbing outside the door.

“I know you’re scared baby, we are all scared. We all love you so much, please know that. We just need to stay safe. You’ll get the hang of it eventually, don’t worry. Just like Grandpa Joseph. Do you remember when I told you he had to stay in the basement for a couple months when he was your age? You've got to get control so everyone is safe.”

“I don’t think I can momma, it’s too hard.”

“I know it’s hard, but you have to try. I want to hug you again Ty, I really do.”

“Then hug me! You’re treating me like a caged animal!” He was yelling now. “I’m a monster!”

“No, you aren’t honey, you’re not!”

“Maddy came down the hall and ran away screaming when I said hello! You’re all scared of me! Every single one of you! You don’t love me!” Tyler started screaming, and Josh could feel the thing in his chest breaking free. Tyler pushed everything off his desk with a growl and slammed his hands down hard, his breathing heavy. When he glanced up, he caught sight of his reflection in the window.

Bright red eyes.

Josh woke up, Tyler’s screaming echoing in his ears. He couldn’t do this anymore. Josh knew these were not his dreams, they were someone's personal memories. Tyler's memories.

He didn't know how it was happening, but he knew somehow he was seeing into Tyler's mind and he felt awful invading.

The bedside clock read 3 am, but Josh couldn't wait until the morning. He had to go talk to Tyler, even if something bad did happen. Dallon had said the door was locked so if crimson appeared behind the bolt Josh would know now was not the time.

After pulling on a shirt and some sweatpants, Josh was darting down the stairs as quickly as possible. He wondered how he was going to bring the conversation up but then Josh realized it really didn't matter because something weird was going on.

When he reached the large double doors, he pounded on them as loudly and as forcefully as he could manage, just hoping Tyler would be awake at this ungodly hour. He was fortunate enough to see dark eyes pop up on the other side instead of red ones. Only problem was, Tyler did not look happy at all. He pointed to the stairs and mouthed something angrily, but Josh sucked at reading lips and opened the door instead. The minute the door had opened Tyler was grabbing a fistful of Josh's shirt and slamming him against the wall, the back of his head hitting it hard. Josh let out a groan in pain, which didn't last long because Tyler kissed him harshly and suddenly Josh wasn't in pain anymore.

Josh had missed this. He had craved Tyler’s touch for two months and now he was finally getting it, and he couldn’t get enough.

He pushed into the kiss as Tyler’s hands explored his body. An explosion of pleasure rocketed between the both of them; Tyler tightened his grip and moaned into Josh’s mouth.

And just like that it was over. Tyler was pulling away leaving Josh in amazement and shock.

“Sorry. I had to do something so jackass would stand down. He probably thought you were out of the picture.” Josh nodded his head. It was quiet in Tyler’s room, which was strange. There was usually music playing in the background.

“I’m not going to complain.”

“Why are you down here anyways? I told you not to bother me.” He was back to looking angry and Josh sighed.

“I had to talk to you. Something weird is going on.” Tyler raised an eyebrow and gestured to the seat across his desk. Josh continued when the two had both sat down. “I’ve been having a lot of nightmares ever since I’ve came here.”

“Everyone has nightmares. Big whoop.”

“It’s not that though. You’ve been in all of them. It started with you getting killed by BF and now its-”

“Go back,” Tyler said harshly as he leaned across the table. “You had a dream about me getting killed by Blurryface?” Josh nodded. “Were we two different people? In a forest covered in snow?”

“Oh my god,” Josh whispered. He raised a hand to his mouth. “Yes.”

“He told me I needed to die,” Tyler tilted his head and Josh once again nodded. “We had the same dream. How did we have the same dream?”

“That’s not it. I started having ones recently where I’m uh, you I guess. But it’s stuff I couldn’t possibly know.”

“Like what?”

“Blurryface was in an apartment. It was the aftermath of a kill and he covered his hands in blood and-”

“Stop. You stop right now. I don’t want to hear another word.” His jaw was clenched and Tyler looked like he was about he really hurt someone. Josh gulped, knowing he was really pushing his luck.

“Then you were a teenager, and your mom was giving you food through a slot in your door-”

“I said stop!” Tyler growled, swinging around to hit the wall with his voice echoing off the walls around them. Josh looked down at the ground, fear starting to rise within his chest. He _knew_ those had been personal memories, he couldn’t have been making that stuff up.

Tyler grabbed Josh’s jaw tightly and forced Josh to look at him. “I don’t know how you know about that, but you don’t talk about those with anyone, or I will personally rip out every bone in your body and feed them to dogs. You don’t get to know about those.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. It’s not my fault they are magically appearing in my fucking head.”

Tyler growled again. “I don’t know either, but we are going to find out.” He let go of Josh with a forceful shove and went behind his desk to push the button labeled “Dallon.”

“Yeah? What’s up?” Dallon asked groggily. Tyler cleared his throat.

“I need you to come down here. _Now_.”

“Uh, yes sir. I’m on my way.” When Dallon clicked off, Tyler shot Josh a look that could kill. They went head to head in a staring contest until Dallon was running through the doors with a loud pant.

“Sit down Dallon,” Tyler demanded without breaking his glare. Dallon obeyed.

“What’s going on?”

“Something is wrong with Josh.”

Josh scoffed. “Something is wrong with me? I don’t think so.”

“Okay, don’t argue. Just explain what’s going on.”

“I told you about the weird dreams I was having Dallon, and guess what? Tyler had the same ones. Now I’m getting his memories in the mix.” Neither of them had even looked at Dallon; they continued to shoot daggers at each other. Tyler’s eye twitched.

“You had the same dream Tyler?” Dallon repeated to make sure he had heard right.

“Why is he getting my fucking memories in his head Dallon? Can you please answer that? Because I don’t need him to know about my personal life thank you very much.”

“You’re certain they’re your memories Tyler?

“I’m pretty damn sure I can remember what my memories are, thank you Dallon.”

Dallon gulped. “I think I know what’s going on.” Finally, Tyler broke his stance and his eyes flickered over to Dallon.

“Well start talking.”

“You are subconsciously reaching out to Josh through his dreams.” Tyler snorted at the same time Josh rolled his eyes.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard.”

“Let me finish Tyler. Listen, we all know your little friend had a strange infatuation with Josh and whether that still remains is a mystery to us all. But it’s got to be because Josh is human.”

“You did say I gave off weird energy,” Josh pointed out. Tyler flipped him off.

“You’re reaching out to Josh by projecting thoughts into his head. Because you want help.”

“You don’t know what I want Dallon, but thanks for acting like you do.”

“Tyler, can you please have one normal conversation where you don’t act like an asshole? You wanted me to explain and I am.” Tyler grunted, but didn’t say anything else. “There are things we can do that we don’t know we can do yet. You just found something you could do.”

“But why me of all people?” Josh questioned. Dallon looked at Josh like he was stupid for asking that question.

“Because Tyler likes you, duh.”

“Fuck off Dallon,” Tyler muttered. Dallon rolled his eyes.

“You guys can act like third graders all you want and play the little ‘check the box yes or no’ game, or you can act like the grown men you are. Face the facts here. Josh helps you. You want him to help you. That’s why you’re showing him your personal memories. You trust him. Sooner or later you’re going to have to shake hands with the dark parts of your thoughts if you want things to get better. You’ve been dealing with that monster since you were sixteen years old Tyler, and it’s ten years later. You need to get a hold on your life and stop running away with your tail tucked between your legs.”

“I don’t know how.”

“You and I both know that’s bullshit. You are reliving your childhood all over again, locked away in a cage.” Tyler stood up quickly, a snarl on his face. He punched Dallon directly in the nose, causing him to tumble out of his chair. Josh was up in seconds, sliding in between the two of them.

“You don’t get to tell me what I know!” Tyler yelled loudly. He squeezed his eyes shut. Dallon pushed himself off the ground, his nose already healing itself. He stared at Tyler in anger.

“You know it’s true. You’ve given up and you don’t have to do that. I know you can fight him, I’ve seen it before. I need you to start showing that Tyler again, not the coward who lets fear rule his life.”

“Easy Dallon,” Josh warned with a low voice. Dallon rolled his eyes.

“For years I’ve let you boss me around Tyler. Years. I’ve done nothing but listen to you, nothing but help you and comfort you. I’ve brought you food, water, I’ve made sure you were okay. And never once did you thank me, at least not until Josh made you. You’re selfish Tyler. You are full of hatred and you can’t see past that stupid veil you draped yourself in. You have to stop hiding and pretending. Do something for once and start acting like a leader.”

Tyler threw his hands in the air and let them fall to his side. “What do you want from me Dallon? My undying love?”

“I want you to try.”

Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Okay. Fine. The veil is gone and the trying has begun.”

“We are here to help you Tyler. None of us are afraid of you. Stop pushing us away.”

“It’s okay to ask for help Tyler,” Josh added quietly. Tyler stared at Josh briefly before turning back towards Dallon.

“Look, I’m sorry for getting worked up. You’re right okay? You’re right. Thank you for all your help, not only today but ever. Don’t know why you keep me as your leader when I’m this shitty.”

“Ok, and another thing. Quit with the hate comments. You aren’t a bad leader, you’re a great one. It’s only recently that you’ve been hiding behind that title. Just stop hiding.” Dallon forced a smile and turned to walk out the room. Tyler opened his mouth to say something, but it snapped shut.

“Hey Ty? Are you okay?” Josh asked after Dallon left. Tyler looked broken. He turned to look at Josh, his eyes wide.

“I killed you,” he whispered, voice cracking at the end.

And then he was crying.

Josh had no doubt Tyler had once been a brave man, but his demons had turned him into dust. He pledged to help Tyler, no matter the circumstances.

Josh wrapped his arms around Tyler tightly and allowed him to cry into his shoulder. Tyler was a few inches taller, so it was a little awkward, but Josh was going to make things work.

“Shhh, it’s okay love, things are going to be okay I promise. We gotta work for them to get that way is all. You can do it.”

“I shouldn’t be alive Josh,” Tyler sobbed, his hands tightening around Josh’s torso. Josh sighed.

“Don’t think like that Tyler. You should too. You’ve had a positive influence on so many people’s lives. The other day Brendon told me how thankful he was that you had found him. You helped all these people Ty, and that’s incredible, don’t you think?” Tyler didn’t answer. “Brendon was homeless when you found him, did you know that? You gave him a home. Think what would have happened if you hadn’t been alive. He would still be sleeping with people for a tiny bit of cash. You’re important to these people, and they realize you’ve been struggling. They all want to help you. All you have to do is let them. Let _me_ help you.”

“I’m a monster Josh, I’m going to hurt everyone I love.”

“So what if you hurt me? People hurt people all the time. You need to work on not hurting. You can do that. Dallon told me that you could work to a point where you could switch back and forth between sides easily. Imagine that.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s not. Get a hold of him. Switch the reigns. Make him obey you instead of the other way around. I know you can do it.” Tyler sighed and pulled away from Josh’s embrace. “We said we would do this together, remember?”

“That was before I almost killed you!”

“For fuck’s sake Tyler, I don’t care! I’m not going anywhere. I made a promise and I’m going to keep it.”

He turned back around and slipped his fingers into place with Josh’s. “I’m never going to hurt you again, okay? I promise.”

“Are you going to let me help you?” Tyler nodded. “Good. Then no more disappearing for weeks on end. If you turn, we both deal with it. Got it?”

“Yes sir.” Satisfied, Josh pulled Tyler back into a hug.

“I’m not going to abandon you okay? You gotta trust me.”

“I do trust you. I trusted you since the day you arrived and I don’t know why.”

“Just believe me when I say you can get through this?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.” Tyler pulled away and dragged Josh to his bedroom. He pointed to the bed.

“You aren’t leaving me tonight. So now it’s your turn to obey.”

“Yes sir,” Josh replied with a grin as he rolled onto the bed. Tyler climbed on top of him and leaned in to kiss him.

“You have no idea how nice this feels.”

“I have some idea,” Josh murmured against Tyler’s lips. He wrapped a hand behind his head and pulled him farther down.

Things were going to be okay.

At least, for now.


	9. 009

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a couple of things:
> 
> 1\. There is a section in this chapter where things get a little heated, and I have no idea what I'm doing, so if you skip over it, by all means I will not be offended. That is not my expertise.
> 
> 2\. For some reason as I have been writing this, every single thing has just screamed "Brand New." So I have constructed a playlist full of songs I believe to fit this fic. And do not worry, they aren't, by popular belief, all Brand New songs. You can find that link at the end. And please, if you have a song you'd like to add, let me know. It can be expanded.

Things were going well for Tyler.

As the weeks passed, he got back into the normal swing of things. He started going to meals with Josh, he helped Pete keep things in check, he even had full on conversations with the residents. Josh helped Tyler learn self control, per the request of Dallon. He was trying to change the way he lived his life, working his way towards the light at the end of the tunnel, and suddenly things didn’t seem so dark anymore. Tyler began sleeping upstairs in Josh’s room, but of course there were days when Tyler prefered the comfort of his own bedroom. Neither ever complained though: Progress was progress.

Currently, they were standing in the middle of Tyler’s office. Tyler had his eyes closed and stood still while Josh paced around him in a circle with his arms crossed. They were working on Tyler’s “control” exercises that Dallon had suggested they do together. Part of that involved figuring out if Tyler could control what Josh could see, dreams and memories wise. They hadn’t been very successful in that department yet.

“How are you feeling at the moment?” Josh asked quietly, his full attention on Tyler. Tyler rolled his shoulders back and cracked his knuckles.

“Calm.”

“How is he feeling?”

“Well he isn’t the happiest. He doesn’t like you helping me, for one thing. And he won’t shut up.”

“So he’s talking to you?”

“Fighting with me. But I’m used to that.”

“Do you remember that time you managed to show me what was going on for a few seconds? Think you could do that again?” Tyler opened his eyes and stared at Josh with a worrying look.

“It only lasted a few seconds last time, I don’t know.”

“We both try. On the count of three. You just have to focus, and I’ve got to clear my mind. Simple enough right?” Josh’s voice rose at the end; he knew he wasn’t confident with his words. Tyler shrugged and closed his eyes again.

“Alright, you have to count.”

Josh nodded, and stopped pacing to lean against a wall. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to think about absolutely nothing. Here went nothing. “One, two, three...”

They stood in silence, but nothing was happening. They always could try and sleep, but there was no guarantee Tyler would send the right thing. He had no control when they were sleeping. It looked like the two would have to try again another time.

Josh was about to open his eyes and give up when he suddenly got the feeling he wasn’t on solid ground anymore and his breath was sucked from his lungs. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark room with low lighting, and across from him stood two Tylers - Normal Tyler and Evil Psychopath Super Villain Tyler. Normal Tyler didn’t look dead this time. In fact, he was pacing around hurriedly, his head down. Blurryface leaned against a wall with a smirk on his face.

“I can’t believe you’re letting a human help us. I thought you were above that.”

“He’s helping me,” Tyler argued, his face flushed with anger. “Besides, it doesn’t matter what you think.”

“Oh, so now it doesn’t matter what I think? Of course it does. I’m you. Are you telling me your opinion is invalid?” Tyler didn’t answer. Blurryface moved from the wall and grabbed Tyler’s wrists so quickly he didn't have time to struggle. “You’re worthless Tyler, absolutely worthless. You never know what’s going on, and that’s why I’m always in charge. I should _always_ be in charge. You are stupid. Look what you’re doing. Remember when I told you we were destined for greatness? What happened to that?”

“This is not greatness. You killing people is not greatness. You pretending to know everything is not greatness.”

“I am greatness. That’s why I’m in charge.”

“You don’t always get to be in charge, because I’m done letting you take over. We are going back to how things should have been a long time ago.” Tyler shoved out of his grasp, and then Josh was falling. His vision faded and eyes shot open to see real life Tyler crouched down in front of him, worry flooding his face. Josh realized he was now on his back.

“Did that really just happen?” He wondered out loud, voice full of amazement. Tyler laughed excitedly.

“Dude, we did it.” he offered a hand to Josh and pulled him off the ground.

“Okay, we need to figure out how you did that. 'Cause that’s going to be very helpful if we can figure out how to do it more often.”

“Do you think it’s a two way street Josh?” Tyler looked hopeful, and Josh hated to bring him down. He shrugged.

“I don’t think so Ty. I can’t do anything special. Besides, how could it be? You’re the one with the powers, not me.” Tyler sighed and started pacing around his office, one hand raised to his chin.

“Well what-” he paused and rephrased his sentence. “It could be a reflection. Your thoughts bouncing off of mine. That could work, couldn't it?”

“I dunno.”

“We can ask Dallon about it later. The main focus is that we did it. Successfully.”

“Does that happen a lot?” Josh asked, pointing a finger at his head. Tyler stopped in his tracks.

“What, the arguing? Yes, a lot actually. That’s all we ever do. And usually he wins.”

“Does it hurt when you, uh, transition? I mean, I know it certainly looks like it does...”

“It hurts when he wants it to hurt. If I don’t put up a fight, he takes right over. Right now, he’s trying to get me down and convince me to give everything up. Soon he’s gonna get aggressive, so we need to move things along if you want to get the jump on him.”

“What does it feel like? Him being in there with you.”

Tyler shook his head sadly. “Have you ever had a panic attack?” Josh nodded. “You know the feeling where it feels like something is crushing your chest and you can’t breathe? That’s what it feels like. All the time. It was so hard at first, but I’ve gotten used to it.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “We need to continue.”

“Right.” They both went back to their respective places. “How are you feeling?”

“I'm attempting to get calm again. The other guy is not happy. He’s trying to take me out.”

“Okay, so we need to add something to the mix.” Josh approached Tyler carefully and slid a hand behind his neck. Tyler flinched at his touch. “You good?”

“I’m good.”

Josh nodded before leaning in to kiss Tyler’s jaw. He noticed Tyler’s hands switched over to clenched fists. “He’s angry?”

“Very angry.”

“And how are you feeling?”

“Like I want to fuck you against a wall.” He opened his eyes and Josh took a step back. Tyler grimaced. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

Josh repeated his question. “How are you feeling?”

“You should get back over here.”

“Come on Tyler, you have to talk to me. This is important.”

“I’m not calm if that’s what you want to hear. In fact, I’m pretty riled up thanks to you.” Josh beamed and gently nudged Tyler to the wall. He slipped a hand under Tyler’s shirt and leaned in to kiss him again softly. Tyler wasn’t having that. He grasped Josh’s arms tightly and pushed hard into the kiss, causing Josh to yelp in surprise when he bit down on his bottom lip.

“Get angry Tyler, we need you to get angry so you can practice self control.”

“I want to decorate my room with your blood,” he muttered angrily against Josh’s mouth, one of his hands sliding under the waistband Josh’s jeans.

“It’s not you talking Tyler, you’re repeating what he’s saying. He’s getting into your brain. Now how does that make you feel?”

“Furious.” Tyler growled, and Josh shoved him off with a satisfied grin. He pulled Tyler over to a chair and began zip tying him to it. They both agreed Josh should stay in the room when Tyler turned-- Blurryface liked to engage in conversation and it allowed Tyler more time to figure out what he needed to do.

 Seconds later, Tyler was snarling and his eyes were bright red.

“That’s a good boy,” Josh murmured as he dusted his hands off proudly. Blurry glared at him for a minute before his face melted into a smirk.

“I’m starting to get really glad Dallon was there to save you. Seeing you here, trying to be brave and helpful, makes you look utterly pathetic and I love it.”

“Alright Tyler, hope you've started figuring out a plan.” The amount of time it took Tyler ranged from days to hours. Recently he had been getting better about it; last time it had taken him about an hour and a half.

Blurryface laughed and attempted to pull out of his restraints. “Both of you are stupid. This charade the two of you have going, it’s ridiculous. This is never going to work.”

“But it already is you piece of shit, it’s working just nicely.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you think it’s working because you and Tyler are playing Giver? He’s gonna give you all his memories and dashing Joshua is going to save the planet?”

“I’m not here to save the world, I’m here to get rid of trash like you.”

“But Joshua, you can’t get rid of me. I’m a part of Tyler, just like his heart or lungs. He can’t function without me, love.”

“But he can control you. You aren’t going to ruin his life any longer.”

“I’ve been with Tyler a long time Josh, far longer than you have. I know how he functions. Right now, he’s curled in the corner trying to talk himself into beating me up.” He rolled his eyes. “He’s like a little kid.”

“No he’s not,” Josh refused to believe him. “He’s fighting, just like we’ve been practicing.”

“Oh my, you think a little practice will make all of Tyler’s problems go away? How ignorant are you Josh? Last time you guys did this, I let him win so you would stop talking to me. Except this time, I know exactly what I want to say and I know how this is going to end. I could use a little entertainment. By the way, I would like to congratulate you on surviving death. Not many people have been able to do that.”

“Why do you feel the need to destroy Tyler’s life if you are so certain he’s going to listen to you?” Josh wanted to punch the smirk right off of him; his fist was shaking as it was.

“I’m like Tyler’s dashing, intelligent, far better looking brother. I’m the one everyone loves, the one everyone listens to, and Tyler, he wants to be like me. He _needs_ to be like me. I'm here to mentor him, and so he listens to me, learns from me. I have to protect my little brother, you understand? I have to protect him from all the evil in the world.”

Josh snorted. “Evil in the world? Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“Tyler listens to me, and in return I protect him. I've let him try things on his own, obviously. Although sometimes I’m there to whisper encouragements. I’ve gotten Tyler to do a lot of stuff, Josh. He’s done drugs, he’s drank until he puked, he went out and got tattoos, he’s had numerous one night stands with both men and women, stuff normal Tyler would never do. He wouldn’t be the person he is today if it weren't for me. Nothing gold can stay my friend, and I taught Tyler that.”

“You’ve done nothing but destroy and deteriorate his life. He can think for himself, you asshole.”

“You’re a threat to my power. What does Tyler think when somebody comes around with a whole different set of beliefs? Now Tyler wants to listen to you, and he’s ignoring everything his teacher taught him in the first place. You can’t stay in the picture if Tyler is to go back to the way things were.”

“Back to the way things were when Tyler was suffering every waking moment of his life?  If things are going back to normal, then it’s going to be back when he was happy and had control over you.”

“Tyler wants to kill, Josh. He’s always wanted to kill. How do you think he was before I came around? He’s always been a messed up child.”

“You ruined his life.”

“I made his life better, you prick. He needs to be shown that life sucks and it’s always going to suck and he better get used to it. At one point I was fascinated by you, because Tyler hated you and that made me feel so _damn_  proud. But now things have changed and you need to go Ponyboy.”

“I’m not leaving him, so you better get used to this. Things are going to change, just like I’ve said from the start.”

Blurryface laughed loudly. “Do you think I’m scared of you Josh? Are you going to listen to everything stupid Dallon says? Dallon doesn’t know anything. Dallon couldn’t even save his own family.” A maleficent grin was plastered on his face and Josh gulped. He didn’t know Dallon’s backstory, but he didn’t want to hear it from this guy. “You won’t be a threat to me much longer after I show Tyler how shitty the human race is, including you. I thought I had got him, but you’re only making things harder. You can’t hurt me, but I can sure as hell hurt you.”

“Oh really? Because I specifically remember you failing at the one thing you are best at.”

“You wanna know what I can do Josh? I can still hurt people after they are dead. I can terrorize their corpses. I like to have fun. Sometimes I like to make a mess.” He tilted his head. “I believe Tyler showed you that one? Except whoops, it wasn’t him. It was me. I can play Giver too. And those scars you have running up your arm? I can fuck with those too. Want me to show you?”

“You’re bluffing.”

“You asked for it.” He flicked his wrist boredly and suddenly the dark scarring on Josh’s arm was burning. It felt like someone had poured gasoline all over his arm and set it ablaze. Josh collapsed to his knees, his voice stuck. He was in so much pain he couldn’t even make a noise. “Every red blood cell in that arm in on the fritz. Every nerve ending, every muscle, even the bones. You won’t have an arm soon.” He laughed again and Josh couldn’t say anything. “Once you’re dead, I’m going to have so much fun with your corpse. I wonder if Tyler would object to fucking your dead body. And then, I’m going to cut you open and take out all your bones one by one. I’ll let all the blood drain onto the floor, and I’ll paint the walls with it. Your skull will be thrown out the window onto the street below for the dogs to fight over. And the best part? Nobody is going to remember you. You’re nothing but a worthless, good for nothing hu-”

Blurryface suddenly choked on his words, and he looked like he was about to throw up. Josh had sank to the floor at this point; tears were pouring out of his eyes. “Tyler, what are you do-” He started screaming loudly, causing Josh to squeeze his eyes shut. He could hear Tyler thrashing around in the chair.

“Josh? Josh, are you okay?” his voice was more gentle, and Josh cracked one eyelid open. The pain in his arm still hadn’t subsided, so he was wary. But sure enough, Tyler’s eyes were dark and his face was masked with worry. It didn’t last long before he was grunting again and his fingers dug into the armrests on the chair. Eyes flickered back to red.

“Could you believe he had the urge to try and kick me out of power during a monologue? Now were we?” He went back to smirking, but Josh could tell something was not right. His right eye was swirling with red and brown and he looked extremely uncomfortable. Josh prayed Tyler would take control soon. Blurryface sighed loudly. “For Christ’s sake Tyler, can you stop?”

“Stop hurting him!”

“I’m teaching him a lesson. A well deserved lesson, mind you.”

“Teach yourself a fucking lesson!”

“Honestly Tyler, is that the best you can come up with?”

Josh blinked. He was watching Tyler have an argument with himself, his eyes flickering between red and brown each time he opened his mouth to talk. It certainly made the list of weirdest things he had ever seen.

 _Finally,_ the pain in Josh’s arm vanished and he gasped for air.

Tyler’s eyes were back to being dark, and it looked like they weren’t going to change. He was struggling to slip out of the ties, face full of worry. “Josh, you gotta cut these so I can help you. He backed down, I promise. Please get me out.” Josh swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded his head. He struggled to get off the ground; his legs felt like jelly and his arm had no feeling in it at all. “Come on babe, you can do it. You’re going to be okay.”

Josh reached for the scissors in Tyler’s desk drawer and went to work shakily cutting the ties. Tyler rubbed his wrists before pulling Josh into a hug.

“I’m so sorry he hurt you, I didn’t know he could do that. Nobody has ever survived his touch, I didn’t know. I broke my promise, I’m so sorry.”

“That’s the fastest you’ve ever regained control,” Josh chuckled, wincing at the end. His voice was raw.

“Forget about that Josh! Focus on the fact you could have died again!”

“No, that was good. It gave you more time. I’m okay with being the distraction, we talked about that.”

“That was before I found out he could still hurt you.”

“Well, that just gives you more initiative to hurry the hell up.”

“You’re so stupid,” Tyler murmured into Josh’s shoulder, but he didn’t let up on his grip. “Normal people wouldn’t be okay with this.”

“I’m not normal. And besides, I told you I’m not going anywhere. This is just something we are going to have to deal with. Problem solved.”

“No, problem not solved. I’m not okay with this.” He sighed. “But if you’re okay with this, I’ll tolerate it.”

“Of course I’m okay with this.” Josh flexed and internally sighed with relief when he could feel his fingers. “Now will you shut up about it? Jesus, I’m starting to miss moody Tyler.”

Tyler rolled his eyes and leaned forward to kiss Josh on the cheek. “I need a drink.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“I know what he said, but I can make my own decisions. And I’m saying that I need a drink. Desperately. In fact, I want to get drunk so I can forget all this stress. I’m not going to get drunk though because he’ll take advantage of that. So you can get drunk and I’ll be the designated driver.”

“I’m not going to get drunk.”

“Will you at least get a drink with me?”

Josh didn’t answer. He still didn’t think it was a good idea.

Tyler groaned. “Come on Josh, I just successfully beat that bastard back into the dirt and watched him almost kill you. A drink isn’t going to kill us. Besides, I need to get out of this building and get some fresh air.”

“When’s the last time you went into the city, Tyler? Is this a good idea?”

“We will be in the city an hour tops. I can survive an hour. Besides, it gives me the perfect excuse to lazily make out with you in my car.”

“Well, can’t turn down that offer.”

Tyler grinned. He slipped his hand into Josh’s and began pulling him upstairs, keeping an eye out for suspicious bypassers. Neither of them said a word as Tyler led them through the halls. Fortunately not that many people were out wandering, and they would have made it too. The main door was in sight when somebody yanked on Tyler’s shoulder and Josh’s hand was ripped from his grasp.

“Tyler Joseph, where on earth do you think you’re going?” Pete said sternly as he glared at the two of them with his arms cross. Tyler started wringing his hands and Josh tried to make himself invisible.

With a nervous swallow, Tyler looked Pete in the eye. “I’m going out. I can do that. I’m in charge of you, so if you’re thinking of stopping me then uh, think again.”

“Are you stupid?” Pete asked with a shake of his head. “Honestly, I wonder about you sometimes.”

“I am entitled to go out without you stopping me. I’ll only be in the city about an hour; we’re getting drinks. Celebratory slash sorry he almost killed you drinks.” Pete’s mouth dropped.

“He almost killed you Josh? Again?”

Josh sighed. “No, he did not almost kill me. Tyler has a new record for regaining control.” Pete raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them with narrowed eyes. He held up a finger and disappeared behind a door labeled “Storage.” Minutes later he came back with a bottle of Vodka and two shot glasses. Josh wondered what he had been saving that for.

“There you go. Enjoy your drinks in the comfort of your own home. Sorry Ty, but you aren’t ready to visit the city again. Shall I remind you what happened last time you visited the city?”

“No.” Tyler looked down at his feet with a sigh. Pete smiled.

“When you can easily regain control with the snap of your fingers, then we can talk about going out, alright?”

Tyler pursed his lips together and took the items from Pete’s hands. “Ok Dad, sure.”

“Hate me all you want Tyler, you know I’m right. Now shoo.” Pete waved his hand and Tyler began sulking down the hallway, Josh following close behind him.

“Sorry man, but you know it’s for the better,” Josh attempted to comfort Tyler, but Tyler only smirked instead.

“If you think I’m listening to him you’re insane. We don’t need to go into the city, but hell, we’re still leaving. I want to see my car again. Black Pagani Huayra.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope,” he responded, popping the P. Tyler pulled Josh around the corner of a different hallway and peered around to see if Pete had left.

“What is it with everyone having nice cars here? I don’t understand it.”

“Half the things in this place aren’t even ours Josh. Now shut up.”

“Is this making sense to you at all? None of you have jobs. Where on earth did you come up with the money?”

“Josh, did you forget we have Patrick? Who can literally walk into any place ever and get anyone to give us anything we want?”

“Oh. Right.” Tyler shushed him.

Two minutes later, Tyler was beckoning Josh to follow him and they disappeared through the door. Once outside, Tyler handed Josh the Vodka bottle and glasses, and turned to lock the door. Then they headed up the stairs and began the walk to the garage.

“You have no idea how great the sun feels right now,” Tyler commented as they walked. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and a bounce in his step. It was weird, seeing Tyler so happy. It was a good thing, don't get him wrong, but it was definitely strange.

“You’re going to start sweating soon and then the sun won't feel too great. That’s what you get for wearing all black.”

“I have to represent how I feel on the inside. Don’t test me, next time you wear black I’ll spend all day making fun of you for it.”

Josh rolled his eyes.

 

\---

 

Tyler’s car was beautiful and Josh was afraid to touch it.

“I’m not like Pete. Do what you want, I’m not going to murder you. Just don’t do anything stupid okay?”

Josh nodded. He climbed into the passenger side and put everything in his hands onto the floor. “Any idea where we’re going?”

“I’ve got some idea. But it’s a secret.”

“Everything’s got to be a secret with you, doesn’t it?”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “Will you enjoy yourself and stop fretting about every little thing?”

Josh shrugged. “That depends.”

Tyler didn’t speak until after they had gotten onto the road and he was punching it far past ninety miles per hour. Josh wasn’t about to tell Tyler to slow down, no matter how nervous he was.

“How long have you played the drums?”

“Since I was 12. Why?”

“What, I’m not allowed to ask you questions about your life?”

“I don’t know. It was random is all.”

“Just trying to start a conversation.” He paused. “So you like playing them then?”

“Yes. I like playing them.”

“I used to play piano when I was younger. We had one in our house and I would spend hours messing with chords. But uhm, haven’t really done that since the other guy came around.”

“He’s really been a handicap on your life, huh?”

“You have no idea.” Tyler forced a smile. “It is what it is I guess.”

“I uh, had this conversation with Brendon about how the whole powers thing works. So were you the only one in your family who got them?”

“Wish I knew the answer to that Josh, but I don’t. I know neither of my parents did. Just my grandpa, but you already knew about that.”

“So do you guys all have similar talents in your family, or is there no consistency?”

“Everything’s similar. You know how you have a mammal, but there are all kinds of mammals? It’s like that. Does that make sense?”

“That makes sense.” Silence followed; neither one of them seemed to know what to say.

Eventually Tyler was pulling off the main road onto a country road covered in dirt and leaves; Josh was secretly thankful Tyler was being forced to slow down. He drove a little farther down the road before pulling off into a patch of trees and killing the engine. Tyler gestured towards the bottle of Vodka on the floor.

“Wanna do the honor?”

“Uh, sure.” Josh reached down to pick them up and handed the glasses to Tyler. He twisted the top and carefully poured the liquid into them, trying his hardest not to spill it over the edges. Then he put the cap back on, placed the bottle in between the seats, and accepted his glass from Tyler.

“To progress,” Tyler said dreamily, his eyes closed. He looked peaceful.

“To progress,” Josh repeated, and they clinked their glasses together. Tyler downed his in seconds; Josh took one sip and scowled. He was not an alcohol fan.

“Top me off again,” demanded Tyler as he nudged his glass Josh’s way.

“Please remember you’re driving home.”

“I can handle another inch of alcohol, just do it please.” he sounded annoyed and Josh didn’t want to make him angry. Tyler deserved some relief after their exercise.

After he poured Tyler another glass, he went back to forcing himself to take small sips. Tyler once again downed it. “Wish I could get drunk,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Getting drunk isn’t all it’s shaken out to be.”

“People always seem so much more happy when they’re drunk. I wish I would be too.”

“You don’t know what’s going on when you’re drunk. Its dangerous. I don’t understand why people do it.”

“You just love to hate on having fun, don’t you Josh?” Tyler had a smug grin on his face and Josh started pouting.

“No, I’m just being reasonable.”

“You’re cute when you get angry.” He raised an eyebrow and placed his empty glass in one of the cup holders. Josh blushed.

“No, I uh-”

“Josh, stop talking.” He paused and let his eyes meet Josh’s. “Can you follow my instructions?”

“Depends on what you wanna do.” Josh narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Tyler looked out the windows to make sure nobody was around.

“Josh, I would _love_ if you got in the back seat.”

Eyes widened, and he swallowed nervously. Oh boy. “Again, what do you want to do?”

Tyler only smirked. “I’m not going to ask again. Get in the back seat.”

Josh sighed. He knew there was no point in trying to ask or defy; when Tyler got bossy there was no stopping him.

Tyler watched, satisfied as Josh unbuckled and pushed open the passenger door. He paused briefly outside to take a few deep breaths before climbing into the back seat. The seat was cold from disuse and his hands gripped the leather tightly, the hair on the back of his neck rising in slight fear.  He was truly worried to what Tyler was planning.

Because he could be planning to talk to Josh and make out with him, or he could be planning a murder. Josh wasn’t exactly certain there could be an in between at this point.

Tyler shimmied in next to Josh seconds after, shattering his daydreams as the car locked with an echoing click. He wasted no time spitting out demands.

"Take your shirt off Josh." Josh quickly obeyed. Truthfully, he was a little terrified to think what would happen if he didn’t obey quickly. He dropped his shirt onto the floor under him and stared, awaiting what was to come next. Tyler nodded, satisfied, before he crawled on top of Josh and pinned his hands above his head. Josh watched cautiously as Tyler pulled out a zip tie from his pocket and strung his hands together through the handle on the roof. In a sudden panic Josh shifted, the plastic rubbing harshly against his skin. He was stuck.

A million thoughts ran through his thoughts then, one of them being _how long had Tyler been planning on taking him out into the woods and chaining his hands to the car?_

"Uh Tyler? What are we-"

"Don't worry about it Josh, just be a good boy and do what I say, alright?" Tyler had a mischievous sparkle in his eye and Josh was beyond worried. He wasn't planning on murdering him and dumping his body, was he? Because no one was going to come looking for Josh up here. Not that anyone would come looking anyways, but it's the thought that counts.

His answer came when Tyler pulled off his belt in one swift pull and dropped the leather to the floor. He pulled off shoes and socks, then unbuttoned Josh's pants slowly, still grinning, and rolled them into a ball before setting them nicely down with Josh's other belongings. This of course, left Josh in nothing but his underwear. Tyler didn't waste a second of time, leaning over to kiss Josh roughly, his tongue pushing its way into Josh's mouth despite a small squeak of surprise. Josh attempted to pull his hands apart but the ziptie only rubbed raw against his wrists.

"No point in trying," Tyler whispered huskily into his ear, his fingers trailing down Josh's stomach. Josh felt something stir in his boxers and he gulped again. "Just let what happens happen." with a nod Tyler pressed his lips gently on the underside of Josh's jaw and moved them down to his collar bone. He then bit down hard, earning a startled mixture of a moan and a yelp from Josh.

"Remember Tyler," Josh tested sternly, his brow furrowed. "We can't have s-"

"Shut the fuck up Josh, you aren't supposed to be talking," his response was mumbled as he continued to suck and his fingers explored Josh's body. He pulled away a minute later to reveal a teeth marked purple bruise forming on his collar bone. Josh closed his eyes with a sigh as Tyler slipped his fingers under the hem of his boxers and pulled swiftly, Josh lifting his hips up as some form of contribution. They fell to the floor, joining the rest of his clothing in a lazy pile.

Tyler's mouth went back on Josh's neck, but it didn't stay there for long. He let himself wander until he found the sensitive skin close to Josh's dick. With a quiet moan Josh flinched and tried to pull away, but Tyler had an extremely strong grip and Josh realized, finally, that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Someone's excited," Tyler said smugly as his fingers brushed Josh's erection. Josh moaned again. “That really didn’t talk much effort on my part.”

"Jesus Tyler, please."

"Please what?" Tyler bit down in an area nearby his previous art piece and Josh made an even louder sound.

"You gotta, ahh, you have to do something, anything."

"I do what I want. You aren't in charge here. My clothes stay on. You, if I remember correctly, are supposed to be quiet." Tyler's mouth moved back up to Josh's lip; one of his hands was firmly wrapped around Josh's dick. He stroked the head with his thumb softly. Josh struggled to kiss Tyler back. The position he was in was extremely uncomfortable and he had been hard since his body was curiously reacting to Tyler's strange behaviour. He was being an awful, awful tease.

"Tyler, _please_." Josh begged, feeling embarrassed he even had to do that in the first place. Tyler's sigh was filled with annoyance. The hand around Josh's dick slid to his ass and gripped tight, nails breaking skin. He kissed harshly once more before answering.

"You need to stop talking, asshole." Josh knew he shouldn't, but God, he was in so much pain and he needed Tyler to do _something_ so he could be satisfied in some fashion.

Tyler dragged the tip of his tongue from Josh's jaw down to the middle of his chest and moved both his hands to Josh's waist. He held it firmly as he continued to string bruises all over Josh's body. Josh let out a whiny plead and Tyler was tightening his grip in response. He bit down hard on one of Josh's nipples and _god_ , Josh couldn't take it anymore. He was so hard he was starting to leak and Tyler was not helping at all.

"Tyler, I am begging you to _please_ -"

"Are you in pain Josh?" Tyler's expression softened and he let up on his harsh grip. Josh nodded, his eyes watering. With a sigh Tyler pulled off his shirt and pressed his chest to Josh's, creating a dull friction, denim grinding on skin. He softly laid kisses across Josh's jaw, earning an excessively loud groan. Josh wanted more, Tyler knew that. And he was going to give it to him.

Tyler helped to readjust Josh's sitting position to something slightly more comfortable (Josh's ass was numb) and pulled his knees apart. He rubbed his palms together. Josh eyed Tyler curiously and bit his lip momentarily.

"Tyler, what are you d-" Josh's answer came when Tyler slid Josh's entire length into his mouth and Josh's voice slid up an octave in surprise. He leaned back and let his head bang against the window as Tyler began to blow him.

Tyler ran his tongue across the slit before he bit down down softly, just enough for his teeth to graze, and Josh let out a string of profanities as he attempted to move again, his wrists completely rubbed raw. Tyler started to move in and out, finding a satisfying rhythm, and all Josh could do was think about getting the pain to subside. At least Tyler was being of some service now.

Five minutes later Josh felt like he was about to bubble out of the sides and his relaxed position became hysteric. He tried to pull away from Tyler, which only fucked up his wrists even more. Adrenaline was his best friend at the moment.

"Tyler," he warned, "not good, I'm going to-" Josh couldn't even finish the sentence before he came into Tyler's mouth. Tyler choked, his eyes wide, and pulled away, the rest getting all over the nice seats of his car and the both of them. When he finished, the two sat in silence.

"Wow," Tyler said as he looked at the mess placed before them. A wolf-like grin rose to his lips. "Josh, you made a mess."

Josh turned tomato red. "I'm sorry, I know you probably want to kill me and I'll clean everything up, I promise." Tyler rolled his eyes and swiped at the come on Josh's stomach with two fingers. He sucked it off before he climbed back on top of Josh and kissed his mouth with as much force as he could muster. Josh could taste himself and he pushed back harder, loving the feeling of Tyler's tongue swirling around with his. Tyler let out a moan of his own, his fingers exploring, touching skin everywhere he could reach. His fingers went back to wrapping around Josh's dick. Josh let his eyes wander-- he could tell Tyler was hard from the giant bulge in his jeans, but he wasn't about to tell Tyler to take them off. Not when Tyler was in charge.

Tyler moved to nibbling on Josh's ear, his thumb stroking the head of Josh's dick. Josh moaned deeply and he could feel Tyler grin against his face.

"You good, love?" Tyler asked seductively and all Josh could do was nod. Josh couldn't remember the last time he had done something so pleasurable with a person.

A hand slid up to Josh's hair and he pulled on it tightly as he went back to sucking on Josh's neck. That only lasted about two minutes before he was pulling off and sitting up with a sigh.

"We should probably go back before they freak out about me being gone." He shrugged off of Josh and picked up Josh's clothes from the floor. Josh stared at them carefully as he nodded his head in agreement. To be completely honest, he didn’t want it to be over.

"Could you cut these?" Josh asked, his voice raw. He attempted to clear it. Tyler's eyes flickered with irrepressible mischief and before Josh could say anything, Tyler pushed the door open and tossed all of Josh's clothes into the woods. Josh gaped in shock. "You son of a bitch!"

"Whoops, my hands slipped." Tyler shrugged before pulling his own shirt back on and climbing into the front seat. He started the ignition with a wicked grin and barreled out of the secluded woods.

It seemed Tyler was purposely trying to hit every single bump possible on his way back. Josh was moving around way too much in the back seat, his dick flopping against his stomach as he attempted to stabilize himself. There was no such luck. So instead, Josh pouted.

When they got back to the garage, Tyler opened Josh's door and slit the tie, sending Josh tumbling to the floor. He had a smug look on his face as Josh pushed himself off of the cement and rubbed at his raw wrists.

"You son of a bitch," he muttered again as Tyler pulled a roll of paper towels from a shelf and tossed them to Josh.

"Clean up your mess before we go."

"You can't seriously expect me to walk back home naked, do you?" Tyler's grin widened.

"I hear the view is outstanding this time of year."

"You're such a prick," Josh grumbled as he turned towards the car. Tyler hit him on the ass. Hard. Josh let out a yelp.

"Hurry up, we have to get back."

After Josh finished and the seats were pristine, Tyler locked the car door, they climbed the ladder (Tyler made Josh go first of course,) and began the long walk back home. Josh sulked while Tyler was happier than ever.

"Oh Josh, we really made him pissed today."

He snorted. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

"Don't be an asshole Josh, I know you enjoyed it just as much as I did." Tyler raised an eyebrow and shoved Josh up against a passing tree, his back digging into the rough bark. Tyler kissed him aggressively, one hand finding its respective place on Josh's dick. His nails were digging this time and Josh let out a strangled moan. It must have been some kind of possessive thing, Josh decided. Something that he and his evil counterpart had in common.

"I know you like this, let's not make things harder than they need to be. I know you want me. I want you to beg for me."

"I do want you," Josh begged, his voice a whisper. "I want you to touch me."

Tyler ran his thumb over Josh's nipple and went back to kissing him.

"You're such a good boy Josh, don't forget that." Tyler grabbed Josh's hand and they resumed walking.

About five minutes passed before Tyler was throwing Josh into a different tree and grinding against him. The wood was rough and Tyler's aggressive attitude was not helping Josh's back.

"If we keep stopping we'll never make it home."

"If we can't fuck, then we are going to get as close as possible," Tyler murmured, a single brief trace of red flickering in his dark eyes. He led Josh's hand down his pants and allowed him to feel the bulge in his boxers. "You can feel that Joshie, don't disappoint me."

"I won't," Josh said solemnly as he gently traced his fingers across it. He wished Tyler would take off his jeans.

"I know you won't. I want you to moan my name." Tyler pressed up against Josh and slid down to bite skin he had visited before. He licked it, testing the waters, before sucking hard. Tyler's fingers explored around and Josh shuddered, telling Tyler he had struck gold.

"Fuck, Tyler," Josh moaned, feeling Tyler smile against his sensitive, sweaty skin. He ran his tongue across Josh's dick before standing up and placing a hand tightly on Josh's ass. He tried to break skin again as he went back to aggressively kissing him.

"Tyler," Josh moaned again as he let Tyler push and pull him every which way. He liked it when Tyler was aggressive. He liked it when Tyler got too rough and left him in bruises and blood. He liked when Tyler turned him into a masterpiece.

They pulled away feeling light headed, and Tyler moved Josh forward to look at his back. It was torn to shreds; blood was everywhere. He grimaced.

"Sorry Josh, I didn't mean for that to happen."

Josh shook his head. "It's not your fault. Besides, I don't care."

Tyler pulled Josh close to him (Josh still wished Tyler wasn't wearing any clothes.) He kissed Josh softly before pulling him farther down the path.

Josh was extremely uncomfortable walking back. The closer they got to the building, the closer to people he was. What if Gerard and Mikey (well, Brendon) were doing perimeter checks and saw the two of them? Josh would die.

“I can hear you thinking all the way over here. What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Josh turned towards Tyler and glared at him like he was crazy. “Well, I’m fucking naked for one thing, thanks to you, and two, I’m covered in blood. Oh, and we can’t forget the fact that I’m going to have to walk through that building all the way to my room which is in the fucking back and pray nobody sees me. But wait: there’s more! What if Gerard and Brendon are causally strolling around looking for security breaches? Wouldn’t it just be utterly _fantastic_ if they happened to see us?”

“Josh, don’t be mad. It was just a joke.”

“Well sure it’s a joke for you, you’re probably having the time of your life aren’t you! I’m the one that has to be humiliated!”

With a sigh Tyler shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it Josh’s way. Josh glared, but that didn't stop him from tying it around his waist.

“You’re still an asshole.”

“What do you want me to do Josh? Strip down too?”

“Actually, that would be a wonderful idea. I’ll have you know that the shirt you left in the woods was one of my favourites.”

“Josh, don’t be mad.”

“I’m not -” Josh sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not mad, I’m just annoyed.”

“You look good.” Tyler was back to smirking and Josh flipped him off. “I’ll get you back to your room without anyone seeing you alright? And then you can get me back.” Josh nodded, and they continued walking.

Fortunately, Gerard nor Brendon were out, and Tyler unlocked the door quickly to usher Josh inside. He turned around to face Josh and placed his hands in front of him.

“Here’s the plan. You follow behind me and if I see someone I’ll distract them long enough for you to get pass. And if we run into Pete, get the hell out of there.”

“Alright, good plan.”

They got lucky. Nobody was around and they were almost to Josh's room when Brendon's door swung open and he locked eyes with a blushing Josh.

"Oh my god," he started, already heaving with laughter. Josh's face turned even more red, if possible, and continued down the hallway, his head down. Tyler followed smugly. "Use a condom!" Brendon yelled down the hallway, laughter echoing as he turned the other way. Josh wanted to crawl into a hole and never leave.

He slammed the door shut behind them and immediately went into the bathroom to get a towel. Tyler sat down on his bed and began picking at loose threads on the comforter.

"I'm going to die," Josh muttered as came back out with the towel strung over his shoulder. He tossed Tyler's shirt to the side.

"Oh come on Josh."

"Tyler, this is Brendon Urie we are talking about. Brendon, who just saw us wandering through the hallway, me with no clothes on and you without a shirt. What do you think he thinks we did?"

"But we didn't," Tyler pointed out. Josh shook his head and sighed with frustration.

“Doesn’t matter. He’s going to spread rumors and I’ll be the laughing stock of this place for as long as I live.”

“Do you hate it here Josh?” Tyler asked quietly. He didn’t look up from the duvet. Josh sat down next to him and folded his arms.

“It’s not that I hate it here, I really don’t. Everyone is nice and it’s much better than my old apartment. It’s the fact that I’m different. I’m replaceable. In this place, I’m viewed as the pet. I’m lower than low on the pyramid.”

“Josh -”

“You said it yourself, you hate the human race. I’m nothing to you guys. The only reason I’m even here is because I made a dumb mistake. You’d be living normal lives and doing your normal thing if I hadn't so rudely interrupted.”

“Don’t say that. You’re important here.” Tyler moved closer to Josh and reached for his hand. “You’re important to me.”

Josh scoffed.

“Josh, I realize our current relationship isn’t something you had in mind, but you’ve got to believe me when I say you’re important. I know I act one way one minute and a different way the next, but you’ve got to trust me. Without you, I would still be cowering in my office waging wars with myself.”

“You’re still waging war with yourself.”

“But thanks to you, the enemy is starting to retreat.” Josh stared at the floor. “Would you like me to make some nerdy history reference or should I save you the trouble?”

That got Josh to crack a smile. “You should say it so I can make fun of you.”

Tyler playfully shoved him. “The Patriots weren’t doing too well against the British until the French came in. Without the French, America might not have been America. Josh, you’re my French.”

“You’re such a nerd.”

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” Tyler raised an eyebrow, a smirk rising to his lips as Josh rolled over and groaned.

“Don’t make me relive high school English class.” He pushed himself off the bed and pointed to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“I’ll be here.”

“Unless...” Josh dug his foot into the ground and refused to make contact. He couldn’t believe he was about to ask this question. “You’d care to join me?”

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Tyler was still smirking and Josh felt like an idiot. He groaned again.

“Alright Shakespeare, get in the bathroom.”

Tyler happily obeyed.

 ---

 

Later the two of them were tangled in the sheets of Josh’s bed, their bodies radiating a halo of warmth. Tyler was tracing the dark scars that ran up Josh’s arm gently while Josh stared up at the ceiling. It was nice doing normal things with Tyler. It made Josh feel like things could be normal, that their weird relationship was normal.

Even though it was far from normal.

“How are you doing?” Josh asked quietly. He turned to look at Tyler who was still absorbed in the lines running through his veins.

“I’m okay. I feel peaceful. Safe. Calm. He’s still quiet. I think earlier put a toll on him.”

“That’s good.” Josh couldn’t help but glance at the long scar that crossed Tyler’s abdomen. He had been curious about it since the first time he saw it. “Ty?”

“What’s up?”

“How did you get that scar?” he leaned over to trail his fingers across it and Tyler shivered. He sat up and shuddered out of Josh’s reach. The look on his face told Josh he didn’t want to talk about it, yet his mouth started moving anyways,

“I got in a fight. I didn’t know Dallon at the time, so he wasn’t around to fix it.” Tyler shrugged and pulled his knees up to his chest, the scar disappearing behind his sweatpants. “It was dumb really, but the injury was pretty bad. I was lucky Pete was around to help.” He gestured to the white lines that ran under Josh’s collarbone and a pinkish one that crossed over his chest. “What about you?”

“I had a big mouth. I mean, I still have a big mouth, but back then I especially did. I was young and naive and talked way too much. So I got punished for it.”

“Mm.” silence rang out for a moment before Tyler spoke again. “We’re both pretty messed up, aren’t we?”

Josh chuckled softly. “Yeah, I guess we are.” Tyler reached for his hand and gripped it tightly.

“Do you ever miss your family?”

“Yeah. I guess I do. I just hate the fact that I wasn’t good enough for them, you know? I wonder how I would have turned out if things had gone differently.”

“I think about that a lot too. What would have happened if my brother was the one who ended up like me? Would I have been afraid of him? Who would I have been? But I would never wish this burden upon anyone else. I’d feel too bad for them.”

“You cope okay.” Josh responded as he began picking at the sheet in front of them. “Maybe there are alternate versions of us somewhere out there.”

“Everything is perfect for them. They’re happy. People love them. They don’t have problems to deal with.”

“They’re doing what they love every day and don’t look back.”

“Two story house with a white picket fence, two kids, and a dog.”

“The American dream.” Josh rubbed at his eyes. “Maybe there’s a version of us where we’re rockstars.”

“Like, in a band?”

“Yes.”

“That’s ridiculous. I would never be in a band.” he rolled his eyes as Josh laughed.

“That’s why it’s an alternative universe. Have some fun here, Ty.”

“Hard to have fun when everything you do has to be serious.” Tyler exhaled loudly and squeezed Josh’s hand. “Thanks for making me feel normal. I haven’t felt that way in a while.”

“I know. Things are gonna get better, I promise.”

“I hope you're right.” Josh knew Tyler didn’t believe him.

Josh wasn’t sure if he believed himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1249232734/playlist/2AKNIj6ZXaV3ZL014V3vyC


	10. 010

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you get a peek into the mind of Tyler this chapter. There are parts where his thoughts are a mixture of his and BF's, so if that gets confusing I'm sorry. 
> 
> Anyways. Enough of me.

Months flew by with nothing exciting coming up in the schedule. Everyone followed their normal routines; Pete was having to do a lot less now that Tyler was back to doing his own work. Life went on.

Tyler and Josh still practiced their exercises. Tyler was getting much better, and the other guy was getting angrier. He still had slipups, of course, and sometimes Josh would leave with his arm aching more than usual. All that mattered was that things were getting better, just like Josh had said. Never in a million years did he think that would actually happen.

Josh had left Tyler sleeping in his bedroom for breakfast; the previous night Tyler had struggled and he needed to regain strength. Josh hated leaving Tyler alone, but he was famished. It had been awhile since Josh had walked down to the dining room by himself. It reminded him of how much he hated it.

The thing is, Josh probably wouldn’t have been pulled into Brent’s bedroom by the arm if Tyler had been with him. He wouldn’t have watched Brent turn the lock and force him to sit on the bed if Tyler had been with him. And he certainly would not have been as terrified if Tyler had been with him.

“Josh! It’s so good to see you! It’s been far too long.” Brent clasped his hands together and smiled. Josh forced himself to smile back and tried his hardest to look like he wasn’t freaking out. “It’s almost like you’ve been avoiding me, but you'd never do that, would you?” Brent sat down on a folding chair right across from him.

Josh gulped. “No, I’ve, uhm, just been busy.”

“With the boss, right?” Brent leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Nice guy. Too bad he’s got that Jekyll and Hyde thing going on.”

“Easy.” warned Josh, his voice low. He stood up and looked at Brent with wary eyes. “If there’s no reason for me to be here, then I’m going to go.” Brent stepped in front of him smoothly and placed a hand on his shoulder, nails digging into the light fabric.

“Josh, take a seat. I’m not going to ask again.”

Josh sat down. He didn’t want to by all means, he had spent _weeks_ avoiding Brent, but now it looked like this was going to happen and he wasn’t getting out of it.

“So Josh,” Brent began as he sat back down in his flimsy chair and crossed his legs, “You’ve had plenty of time to think about my offer.”

“You know Brent,” Josh scratched his head nervously, “I don’t know about this.”

He laughed. “You haven’t even made a pros and cons list in those months? I realize you’ve been busy my friend, but come on!” Brent shook his head and pushed himself up out of the chair. Josh watched as Brent paced his room. Brent’s room looked like a prison cell. It didn’t even look lived in. He had been here for a couple months at least, so why did it look the way it did? “I’ll help you out. Let's start with the basics, shall we?

"I’ve found people who are more than willing to work on this project. It’s a great project too; I have no doubt it will go places. You would be my partner. Nothing would go through if you didn’t agree with it first. We would discuss everything with you.”

Josh’s palms were clammy. He wiped them on his jeans.

“It seems your worries haven’t exactly gone away, have they? Sure, you and Tyler are on good terms now, but in the future? What’s going to happen in the future? You’re still afraid Josh, still afraid he’ll realize you’re no good and leave. You’re nothing but a human, you’re going to wither away while he continues to shine. And now that you’re helping him get rid of Hyde, that just gives him more of an excuse to walk away.” Brent was smug and Josh could feel his blood boiling. He knew Brent was right; he just didn’t like listening to him say it out loud. “But the dude isn’t only in your nightmares, he’s in your dreams too. The things you want to do to him, that’s naughty, Joshie.”

Josh turned red.

“Can I tell you something? Looking at you, I never would have thought you batted for that side of the team. I mean, look at yourself. Girls would fling themselves at you and you wouldn’t have to move a single muscle.”

“I don’t uh, know, uhm, exactly...” Josh couldn’t finish his sentence. Brent made him feel very uncomfortable.

“Look at you, too embarrassed to even reply! Adorable.” Brent laughed again. “But since you seem to really want to fuck Tyler, we'll stick with that. Except oh wait, you can’t fuck him, because you’re human and that makes things vulnerable. I can see what he’s afraid of too, and nothing shows him missing you. He’s not even afraid you’ll leave.” He leaned down until his breath was warm against Josh’s ear. “He won’t miss a human like you. You’re replaceable.”

Josh ducked his head as Brent sat back down in his chair. “We could make you irreplaceable Josh. Tyler would beg you not to leave. You’d have him at your feet.”

“That sounds like an unhealthy relationship,” responded Josh through gritted teeth.

“Here’s the thing. If we can genetically modify and shape talents, we can design them to be better than any old talent. Anything you want, we can give you. Maybe you want to be able to move things with your mind? Maybe you want to be invisible. Maybe you want to be cold as ice or as hot as fire. We can do that. You’d be special, because you’d be the first. You’d be a celebrity. You Josh, you would be incredible. You would be a God.”

He couldn’t believe he was listening to this nutjob speak.

Josh couldn’t believe he was considering saying yes.

“Tyler’s been showing you around his mind right? You think you can’t do that back. So we give you the ability to do that, and really impress him. Anything you want, we can do.”

“I don’t know man,” Josh said quietly as he stared at his fingernails. “I feel uneasy about the whole thing.”

“I can guarantee it’ll work. We won’t do anything to you without your permission, and certainly not until we are certain it’s going to work. We can run trials; you’d be the final result. We’ll super soldier you Josh. Forget Captain America, you’ll be the best thing on this planet.

“And shall I remind you we can make you live just as long as Tyler? Think how happy he’ll be when he discovers you’re now like him. There won’t be any limits. You can live happily ever after fucking each other night after night. If you don’t want to do it for me, at least do it for him. Don’t you think the guy deserves to be happy?”

“Of course,” Josh whispered.

“Well what do you say Josh? You want to become the impossible?”

Josh looked Brent in the eyes. He was smirking, one hand raised, and Josh, he felt like this could be a new chance for him. These people, they would accept him. Tyler, he would feel better about their relationship. It wouldn’t be weird. They could enjoy themselves. And maybe Josh really didn’t need to have powers, he only needed to be similar to Tyler’s species.

He would be the main focus. Brent wouldn’t do anything Josh wasn’t comfortable with.

What could go wrong?

Josh took a deep breath and gripped Brent’s hand tightly. Brent made a quiet sound of satisfaction.

“Welcome aboard Joshua Dun.”

Josh nodded his head. He was still uneasy about his decision, but he felt like he was making the right one. Tyler deserved the best in life.

Brent stood up and dusted his hands, even though there was really nothing to be dusted off in the first place. He unlocked the door and pulled it open. “I’m so happy with your agreement, but let's keep one thing clear. You are to tell absolutely no one about it, understand? I will know if you decide to betray me.” Brent’s voice got low and he had a look of pure terror on his face. “However, if you do decide to make that terrible mistake...” The room seemed to drop ten degrees in temperature.

The walls looked like they were melting. Dark liquid dripped down them slowly, and Brent-- well he didn’t look like Brent anymore. He looked like...

 _No. That’s not right_. Josh rubbed his eyes, but Tyler was still standing in the doorway with malice. His eyes were crimson and his hands were not coated in black paint, but thick blood. It dripped sloppily onto the floor below.

“Tyler’s going to leave you, and I’ll be there to kill you when he does,” Blurryface laughed bitterly, and pain shot throughout Josh’s body. The main source was coming from his arm, where skin was starting to melt off. He could see blood and muscle and bone-- it made him want to puke. Blurryface took a step forward and shoved his hand through Josh’s chest; Josh could feel him squeezing his heart with all he had.

He couldn’t breathe.

Something kicked him in the stomach and Josh came back to reality with a gasp of air. While he coughed loudly on the hard ground, Brent stared happily from above.

“There’s more where that came from.” One eyebrow raise later, Brent was disappearing through the open doorway, leaving Josh shaking in his own skin.

 

\---

 

Josh had lost every trace of appetite and went back to his bedroom. More worry coursed through him; what had he agreed to? Brent was going to kill him. Brent _could_ kill him. This was horrible.

Maybe Josh could back out of it; it wasn’t like he had signed any papers. He would firmly tell Brent that it was a bad idea and he didn’t want any part of it. There were other humans out there, he could simply find another one.

The problem was, there was a part of Josh that wanted to do this. He wanted to do this for Tyler because Tyler only deserved the best, not what Josh was. Josh was nothing. And so, he was stuck.

Josh came into his room quietly as not to wake up Tyler, but Tyler was already awake. He came out of the bathroom with a towel loosely held around his waist and ran a hand through his soaking wet hair.

"Hey Josh. I was wondering where you went." The towel fell to the floor as he went digging through clothes in a duffel bag Ty had brought upstairs from his room. Josh cleared his throat and tried to avoid having his eyes wander across Tyler's body.

He failed.

"Sorry, I went to go grab breakfast. I didn't want to wake you up, since uh, last night was tough for you."

Tyler didn't answer until after he had pulled on all his clothes. Josh watched sadly as he covered up.  "That was one battle I definitely wasn't winning." Tyler had spent most of the night as Blurryface locked in the bathroom throwing insults at Josh left and right. Neither one of them had gotten much rest. "So you ate then?"

"I ate." He lied. Josh felt bad, but he couldn't tell Tyler what he had been doing. Tyler came over and tapped his fingers softly on Josh's arm, leaning in to kiss him.

Josh pulled away with a sigh and dropped down onto his bed. He couldn't do this, not right now. Tyler plopped down next to him, his hands twisting together in defeat. He shot Josh a sideways look of worry.

"What's wrong Josh?"

"I don't know." Josh chewed on his lip and directed all his attention on a smudge on one of the cymbals of his drum set. He would have to wipe that off.

Tyler slid an arm over Josh's shoulders. "Come on, you can tell me. You've been helping me out, let me help you."

"What if I was like you Ty?" Tyler looked at Josh in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Species wise. What if I was like you guys? Like with powers."

"That stuff doesn't matter Josh. You don't have to be like that."

"Who are you kidding Tyler? You told me you hated humans. You can't suddenly change your mind."

"I hate a lot of things. I don't hate you. And although I am irked by humanity, I am not irked by you. You're the most beautiful thing on this planet."

Josh scoffed and moved out of Tyler's reach. He didn't believe him. "Who are we trying to fool? There's no way this is going to work."

Tyler's face dropped and Josh could practically hear his heart shattering. He didn't want to hurt Tyler, never in a million years, but they had to face the facts. Tyler was a mystical enigma and Josh was nothing but a waste of time and space.

His voice was shaky when he spoke. "Josh, how could you say that?"

"Have you heard the theories people have about you? About you living forever? Tyler, I'm going to die. Why would you want to be with someone who's going to die? I'll be old and crumbling and you'll still be beautiful and exquisite. You won't have to deal with me anymore."

"I don't..." Tyler went quiet. He started wringing his hands once more. "I don't know if that's true. But you can't think about that stuff. You gotta live in the now. Please Josh, you're so important to me. Don't throw all of this away. I need you. You said you'd help me. You promised."

"I'm not going to break my promise. I'm just saying we should get used to being platonic friends because whatever we have is not going to last forever." Josh felt tears burning at the corner at his eyes and he cursed under his breath. It seemed all he has done since coming here was cry. "What if I was like you Tyler? What if I could do freaky shit? What if I was strong, and could take care of you? Don't you want someone like that? Someone like _you?_ "

"You already take care of me. You don't need to be like me."

"Dammit Tyler, we can't even have sex! What kind of a relationship is this? It's messed up!”

Tyler sighed loudly and raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Believe me Josh, I would love to have sex with you. And it's not like one day we won't be able to. I'm working towards that, we are working towards that. Is our relationship different? Yes. But I want it to be that way. I don't like you any less as a human then I would as a talent. You've got to believe me." There was something in Tyler's voice that made Josh feel like he wasn't being fully honest. Maybe it was the fact that Tyler wasn't looking Josh in the eyes, or that he was back to wringing his stupid hands.

"I've got to go." Josh pushed up from his bed and started to go towards the door; Tyler grabbed his arm firmly and pulled him back around. Hurt flashed across his face.

"Josh please. You're scaring me."

"I just need to take a walk."

"We were going to practice again. Remember?" Tyler looked hopeful for a second before Josh crushed his spirit with a simple shake of his head.

"That's going to have to wait." Tyler let go and Josh left through the door.

 

\---

 

Josh felt bad for leaving Tyler hurt, but he knew things were going to better when he could afford to take care of him. They would be better off with Josh as a talent.

Everyone would.

He decided to go to Spencer and Brendon's room. Spencer had said Josh was welcome to visit, and now was better than ever.

Josh knocked three times and the door was pulled open wide by a completely naked Brendon. He had a giant smirk on his face as Josh threw his hands over his eyes with a loud groan.

"Jesus Christ Brendon!"

Brendon laughed loudly. "Hey man, don't act like you don't like it. What can I do you for?" Josh still refused to look and kept his hands over his face.

"Brendon?" Spencer called from inside their room. Josh could hear movement. "You asshole, go get some fucking clothes on." The sound of skin to skin contact rang out and Josh didn't dare open his eyes until Spencer assured Josh that Brendon had left.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to ask if you could do the calm thing. I'm on the edge of a panic attack." With a nod Spencer ushered Josh into the room and pointed to the sofa. The minute Josh sat down, he felt a wave of tranquility fall over him and sighed thankfully.

"Can I ask why?" Spencer questioned as he pulled a small silver flask out of his pockets. He took a swig before handing it over to Josh.

Josh took more than one sip. He downed the entire thing.

"Jesus, that bad?" Spencer raised an eyebrow and Josh moved his shoulders up and down lazily.

"I've got too many thoughts. They're pounding against my skull and I want to rip my brain out of my head."

He clucked his tongue. "I guess that's one way to put it."

"It's Tyler. Things aren't going to work out between us, so I'm thinking that-"

"You little fucker." Spencer and Josh turned towards Brendon who was leaning against the framework of the bathroom door fully clothed. He looked pissed. "You son of a bitch!"

"Woah, Brendon! Hold on!" Spencer raised his hands in defensive and Brendon glared at him. He growled.

"Don't play your little emotions game with me Spencer, if I want to be mad then I'll be mad." Spencer backed off. Josh stared curiously at an angry Brendon as he turned his glare towards him. "You can't hurt him Josh. You can't build him a fucking castle and tear down the walls. I swear to god, if you do something stupid I'm going to-"

A lightbulb in the room exploded, small pieces of glass raining down onto the three in the room. Josh winced as that famous ringing noise increased in his head. Brendon clenched his fists.

"It's not going to work right now Brendon!" Josh shouted back defensively. He stood up from the couch and stepped towards Brendon. Spencer no longer was making him calm. "I can't do anything for that man. I can't do anything for anyone here!"

"You're such a fucking idiot Josh! Are you so blind that you can't see you've already done so much? Don't turn into an asshole just because you're upset over something so stupid."

"This isn't just about Tyler, it's about everyone in this place. You don't think I see the way people look at me? Why do you even bother being nice to me? Is it out of pity?"

"You're just looking to start a fight over every little thing, aren't you? Jesus Josh, we don't think we're 'better than you.' Don't pull the pity card."

"I'm not pulling any card!" Josh dropped back down to the sofa in defeat. "I'm having this stupid war with myself over one decision I already made."

"What's that?" Spencer asked calmly. Brendon raised an eyebrow.

"I can't say." Josh knew he was getting dangerously close to telling them, and he certainly didn't want Brent coming after him. Josh just needed _someone_ to talk to about it because it was already starting to eat him up inside.

"Oh come on." Brendon waved a hand and squeezed in between Spencer and Josh. "Don't do this shit."

Josh exhaled and went to work massaging his temples. He was developing a headache he really didn't want. "Just let me ask you a question. Would I be more valuable if I was like you?"

They seemed taken back by the question. The room filled with tension (Spencer's work, Josh assumed) and Brendon cleared his throat.

"That's the stupidest question I've ever heard."

"Yes," Spencer replied, and Brendon shot him a death glare. Spencer only shrugged. "I'm being honest. We are more developed than humans, are we not? Stronger, faster, smarter... I'm not going to lie to you Josh. But it's okay that you're human. You're certainly the most helpful human I've ever come in contact with. You've done a lot for Tyler, and not many people have the power to do anything for that man."

"I could do more if I wasn't human," Josh muttered under his breath. He stared at his high tops.

"Well, no point in fussing over something you can't change." Spencer patted him on the knee and stood up from the sofa.

_Except I can._

Josh forced a smile. "I know. It's dumb. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Nah, I told you to stop by anytime. We are friends dude." Josh felt calm again. He was thankful for that.

"Well uh, thanks. For letting me stop by." He stood up to leave when Spencer reached out for his arm.

"You gonna be okay Josh?"

Josh nodded. "Probably. I'll get over it."

"I'd be happy to take you out for another drink," Brendon offered as he raised Spencer's empty flask. Josh shook his head.

"Another time maybe. I promised Ty I'd help him out." With one more smile, Josh disappeared through the door and down the hallway.

Josh apologized to Tyler when he saw him. Tyler had gone down to his office and was draped across his chair with his feet on top of his desk playing with the hem of his kimono when Josh walked in. Tyler glared at him and swiveled his chair the opposite way.

"Oh come on Tyler, don't be this way." Tyler didn't answer, so Josh sighed dramatically and leaned against the desk. "I'm sorry I said all that shit back there. I didn't mean it. I care about you, and I want us to be together. Come on, let me kiss you."

He turned back around with a smirk, tapping his fingers together like the supervillian in a superhero movie. Josh grinned. "That's my baby boy."

And then Tyler was quickly grabbing a fist full of Josh's shirt, yanking him further over the desk so he could kiss him harshly. Their tongues met and Josh felt Tyler's teeth graze his bottom lip. Josh placed his hands on the desk and made his way around, not breaking the kiss for a second. Tyler moaned as Josh pushed his back into the rough edge of the desk.

"I want to throw you up here and fuck you," he mumbled into Josh's mouth, an apology following immediately after. Guess their exercise was going to start now. Problem was, Josh really didn't want to pull away. He loved Tyler's touch-- he wondered how much better it would be when he was like Tyler himself.

When Tyler was digging his nails into the back of Josh's neck and insults were being muttered into his mouth, he knew it was time to pull away. Josh nudged Tyler back down into his chair and pulled a handful of zip ties from a desk drawer. Once Tyler was secure, he stepped back and sat in a chair across the desk with his hands in his lap.

Watching Tyler turn was always the hardest part. Sometimes he would snarl and thrash, other times he would scream and pull his wrists raw.

And sometimes he would stare with dead eyes.

Josh was tired today, he really didn't want to deal with Blurryface, but he knew he had promised Tyler and a promise was a promise.

"Somebody is having a midlife crisis," he sang as he eyed Josh curiously. His tongue darted out across his lips and Josh matched it with an eye roll.

"Don't really want to fight you today, so whatever you have to say, get it over with. Let's see how Tyler is feeling."

Not-Tyler cooed mockingly and tilted his head. "Aww, but it's not fun when you aren't phased by it. Come on Joshie, what do you say we have some fun? Cut these ties and let me fuck you so hard you'll be sore in the morning." Laughter rang out. "You'll also be dead in the morning, but the little stuff isn't important."

Josh stretched out his legs with a sigh and pushed back into his chair. He knew that when he was a talent, he could handle all of Blurryface's shit. Maybe the asshole would leave him alone.

"Tempting, but I'm going to have to turn down your offer."

"What a shame. It might be the only time you'll ever get fucked by Tyler." He raised an eyebrow. "Tyler hasn't been a very good boy lately. It's starting to irritate me."

"Mm, I'll let him know to keep it up."

"You're a real jerk Joshie, you know that? But I can't deny, I can see what Tyler sees in you. You're sexy. I'm not stupid. And the things Tyler wants to do to you-- I can't help but wanna do them also. Are you into kinky shit? You seem like you would be."

If Josh had been drinking water, he would have choked. Instead, magenta spread across his face and he ducked his head to hide it. Blurryface giggled mockingly and it sounded awful, like nails dragging down steel.

"We strip you down to nothing and burn all of your clothes in this extravagant fire. Then we chain you to the wall, and we take a knife and watch your blood stain your skin. We run it in your hair, we paint your arms, I get a healthy hold on that nice dick of yours; you'll be screaming Tyler's name in seconds. Don't deny you're not into that, Josh."

"Knock it off." Josh's voice came out squeaky and he was still speaking into his shoulder.

"Don't be embarrassed Joshie, it's normal behavior. Oh! I had a wonderful idea. What if Tyler sucks you off again? Would you like that?" Josh bit down on his shoulder when he felt something stir down below. He couldn't believe he was actually starting to get hard by this evil son of a bitch. Worst part was that he wasn't finished. "Tyler takes control, and you like it. You like when I urge him on to do sick twisted shit, because you're naughty and fucked up just like me. Tyler's gonna touch you, going to trail his fingers all up and down your body until you're on the brink of an orgasam, and then you'll be screaming for him to do something, _anything_. And then he'll slip a finger, two, three fingers, inside of you, and you'll continue to moan his name and fidget under his touch..."

Josh palmed his growing erection through his jeans and cursed under his breath. Blurryface grinned with satisfaction.

"I knew you were sick Joshie, I knew it. And Tyler, hope you know he's seeing all of this. He's pulling at me, trying to topple my power, but I'm having so much fun with you right now. Are you enjoying yourself?"

Josh couldn't get it to go down. He cursed again and tried to ignore the now gigantic bulge in his jeans that wasn't going to be satisfied.

"I want to watch you touch yourself Josh, would you give me the honor? I can feel Tyler getting excited just at the thought of seeing you naked. Oh, how badly does he want to fuck you. Except Tyler doesn't want to do it normally, you know, the _boring_ way. He wants to do some kinky shit. Like electric dog collars. Would you be up for that? You'd be wearing one of those while Tyler dug his nails into your ass, and every single time you did something bad he'd shock you and you sick twisted little fuck, you'd like it. You'd beg him to do it more." Josh hit the back of his head on his chair repeatedly and tried not to look at Blurry's smug expression. He wanted this to be over so badly. "Just do it Josh, do it right here right now. I know you want to. Tyler isn't going to come around anytime soon and you have to have that satisfaction, I can see it all over your face."

"I'm not going to do that," he said through gritted teeth, although his hand was toying with the button of his jeans and the thought had crossed his mind. But he wasn't going to do that, not with Tyler in this condition. He would especially never admit the crazed super villain made him hard.

"Tyler wants to see it, I can feel him begging. You aren't going to let him down are you?"

Josh couldn't do this. He scooted backwards out of the chair too quickly and it got knocked to the floor.

"Leaving so soon Joshie?" Josh ignored him and pulled Tyler's pocket knife out of his jeans. He laid it on top of the desk and began backing out of the room, his eyes cautiously watching Blurryface.

He felt pain shoot up his scarred arm the minute one foot crossed the threshold; he hated leaving Tyler like this but he honestly couldn't stand to be down here and needed to leave. With one more look at his stupid smirking face, Josh pulled the door shut and locked it. He'd come down later to fix things.

 ---

 

After spending an hour in the shower thinking about how utterly messed up his life was, (and okay, yeah, maybe Josh did spend a good amount of time satisfying himself) Josh hunted down Dallon to go check up on Tyler. He would have done it himself, but Josh was a little nervous Tyler would bring up the fact that an evil psychotic killer managed to give him a boner strictly by talking about Tyler himself. Josh was okay with pushing that moment of time deep in the back of his head, nestled in between the time his mother walked in on him and an old high school girlfriend having sex and the time he broke his arm jumping off the roof of his home the first time he ever got drunk. Josh didn't need to think about any of those things ever again.

He traveled down the hallways leisurely, constantly running his hands through his wet hair. Josh really needed a haircut; he wondered if he would be allowed to go out and get one. And while he was out, Josh was going to buy some hair dye. His chocolate roots were starting to show and frankly he didn't like the way they twisted with his fading red turned pink. He wanted the bright red back, the dark, ruby red that resembled the blood and anger in Blurry's eyes. Josh never was afraid of blood; he has seen plenty of it during the drug business. It was only recently that he was starting to become accustomed to it; it was maybe even starting to get him excited.

Josh wondered what would happen if Tyler walked into his bedroom to see Josh laying on the bed causally, his thick hair freshly trimmed and dyed blood red sucking on the blood trickling down his fingers from a small cut. Maybe Josh would even smear some around his eyes - Tyler could kiss him, rub that black paint on his face and lick the blood off around his eyes as the paint turned the red into a nasty dirtied grey.

He shook his head with a scowl. What was wrong with him? Was BF really getting that much into his head? That was gross. Everything about it was gross and yet, Josh really, really wanted it to happen. He could picture Tyler with bright crimson eyes and a smirk, his tongue running over his lips as he whispered, "You dirty boy, I know you're into that shit. You want it. You want me.”

Josh mentally kicked himself and shook his head like a wet dog, as if that would help scatter the thoughts in his head. Sweat was starting to perspire near his hairline and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. _I'm so fucked up_ , he thought as he made his way into the dining room. At their usual table sat Patrick and Pete with their hands intertwined in clear view, along with Mikey, Gerard, and Frank. It had been a while since Josh had talked to them, since he has been so preoccupied with Tyler and their exercises. Maybe he would start acting normal if he was in public.

"Hiya Josh!" Patrick beamed as Josh slid into an empty chair at the far end of the table and forced a small smile. Josh was going to act normal.

"Hey! How have you been?"

"Wonderful. Things with Tyler are going well, I assume?" He raised an eyebrow, but Josh wasn't going to give him the advantage. Josh was acting normal.

"He's getting much better at self control."

Pete grunted. "I'll believe when I see it."

Patrick pulled gently on Pete's arm. "Have some faith in the kid. We did practically raise him to some degree."

"Yeah, and he turned out super great didn't he?" Pete rolled his eyes. "None of us turned out super great.”

"At least he's coming upstairs," Gerard added as he moved positions. Josh saw him slide his hand under the table. "He's doing his work. He's getting better."

Josh nodded his head firmly. "Thank you Gerard."

"He's behaving like a normal person!" cheered Mikey as he pumped his fists. Pete rolled his eyes at him.

Josh had missed this. He had missed engaging in normal conversation (well, almost) with friends. It wasn't that he didn't like spending time with Tyler, no, he certainly did. It's just that Josh could only get through with so many rough kisses and hickeys and insults and pain in one day. He knew it wouldn't always be like this - they were working towards better and bigger things. And soon, Josh would be like everyone else at the facility and conversations would be even more exciting. Josh would _understand_ , he could get involved, he could run and jump and--

"Josh?" Patrick peered at him with eyes full of worry and Josh shook his head to snap back into reality. He hasn't realized he had gotten that lost in his mind; the others had started a completely new conversation. He apologized and they started up their conversation once more. Josh stared at the wall at the back of the room, laughter and chatter fading into the background with the bright lights. He took a deep breath through his nose and, _no_. Something wasn't right.

Josh smelled something strange, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It smelled putrid, like something you'd smell in the alleyways of downtown Los Angeles. What was that?

He looked at the others; no one seemed phased or off by the atmosphere in the room. But then it clicked: it was gas.

Smoke. Fire.

And then--

The hissing of a fuse,

The clicking of a light,

An explosion with enough force to throw Josh to the ground.

Blood,

Blood,

And more blood. There was ringing in Josh's ears but his vision was blocked by debris and hazy smoke. It didn't matter in the end.

Josh couldn't feel anything.

 ---

 

Tyler was down in his office, scribbling something in an old notebook when he heard the explosion. Of course, he didn't know it was that exactly. It shook the building and gave him an uneasy pit in his stomach.

_Something's wrong baby boy, you might want to let me go check that out._

With a sigh he dropped his pen onto his desk and stood up from the chair he had been strapped to only hours earlier. Tyler rubbed his wrists softly; they were still hurting. BF really had wanted to stay in charge-- he couldn't believe the things he had said to Josh.

And _shit_ , Josh, because Tyler wasn't sure what had made such a loud noise upstairs but he didn't know where Josh was at the moment and that was worrisome.

_That's right, let your emotions take over. It's not good for you to be controlling in a state like this._

_Shut up._

_Make me you worthless piece of garbage._

Something was telling Tyler that he really needed to go upstairs and see what was going on. His own heart was beating quickly, and he really wanted to start wringing his hands, maybe coat them in a fresh set of paint (his hands were now a dirtied ugly grey) but Tyler knew he probably didn't have time. He could feel that godforsaken asshole writhing around inside of him and he bit his lip to avoid scowling. Instead, he disappeared out the door and took the stairs two at a time.

The minute he stepped up into the hallway, Tyler could tell something was wrong. Josh wasn't in his bedroom, first of all, but the hallway itself was covered in a hazy grey that seemed to swamp the lights. He smelled smoke, and BF was more alert of his surroundings. Tyler told him to shove it and continued warily down the hallway. His footsteps seemed to pound loudly against the floor and his heart was about to beat out of his chest. He passed Lynn and Hayley peeking out of their bedroom with fear all over their faces. Screaming was coming from the dining room. Tyler swallowed loudly and continued.

The minute he saw the flames, Tyler became hysterical. He starting shouting for Dallon, because there was a gigantic hole in the dining room wall filled with sharp jagged metal, flames, and the horrible metallic smell of blood.

_Come on Tyler, let me in. Let me take over._

He ignored Blurryface the best he could and stepped over broken tables and raised flooring. He spotted Pete slumped against the wall, a trickle of blood sliding down the side of his head. Tyler was to him in seconds, grabbing his arm like a lifeline and shaking him gently. He prayed he was okay, because if Pete was dead, Tyler didn't know what he would do.

"Pete," he whispered loudly, words pouring out with a tone he hadn't expected. Pete answered with a mumbled groan. Thank god, he was okay. "What happened?"

Pete didn't answer. Tyler assumed he had fallen unconscious. After checking to make sure he was still breathing, he continued on his way, still shouting for Dallon.

A few others were pulling themselves out of the mess, tears dotting their faces as they went to help others. Tyler still hasn't seen Josh.

"God dammit Dallon, where ARE YOU?" Tyler hadn't really been this hysterical since the first time he had watched Blurry kill someone. He just wanted to make sure Josh was safe, that Josh hadn't been in here and that he was okay. Then he would hug him tightly, kiss him gently, and they would go back to Josh's room and make out until Tyler couldn't deal with it anymore.

"Tyler?" Dallon's dark mess of hair popped out from behind a table that had been flipped on its side, tears staining his face. Tyler felt his breathing hitch.

_No._

_No, no, no, no, no, no, NO._

Tyler walked slowly, because he knew what was on the other side of the table and he didn't want to face the truth. He shakily raised a hand to his face to wipe away tears he hadn't realized had started falling.

Dallon was hunched over Josh's beaten and battered body as he sobbed loudly. Josh was covered in blood; it was pouring out of a cut on Josh's temple, matting his hair to his forehead and running rivers down his neck to his shirt. There was a burn on his arm that was so bad it scarred black. Tyler could feel Blurryface cackling inside of him, telling him _you fucking idiot, I told you this would happen._ Tyler screamed in anger and punched the tangled twist of splintered wood, slivers embedding themselves into his fist and creating their own shallow pools of blood. Tyler wanted to kill himself. He hadn't been around to protect Josh, and now Josh was dead. He was dead.

"I'm so sorry Tyler," it was hard to understand what exactly Dallon was saying because he was crying so hard. Dallon had treated Josh like his own son, had protected him and taken care of him and offered only the best of advice. He wasn't losing a friend, he was losing family.

For a second time.

Tyler noticed blood staining Dallon's nice shirt; he had gotten hurt as well. It was most likely healed, but whatever, _whoever,_  had broken in and bombed this place had hurt his friends and killed the person he loved. And that was the truth.

Tyler loved Josh. He loved the way Josh made him feel, safe and secure and appreciated and _important._ He loved how Josh put up with his constant complaining, how he treated Tyler kindly and put up with him even though he was a raging lunatic half the time. He loved the way Josh put Tyler before himself, spending long nights helping him fight with whispers of encouragement and kisses and hugs and gentle strokes of his fingertips. He loved the way Josh moved when he played drums, how he looked when he was angry, his curly dyed hair and his dimples and his honey dipped eyes and his nose ring and tattoos. He loved the way their mouths fit together and how Blurry stirred with jealousy inside of him, because Josh was Tyler's and nobody else's.

Now Tyler was never going to be able to tell Josh that.

Josh didn't deserve to die this way. He didn't.

"I was too late," Dallon sobbed as Tyler sank to his knees. He could feel wood and metal digging into him but Tyler didn't care one bit. "I was too fucking late!"

"What happened?" Tyler asked as calmly as he could, his eyes watching how uncomfortable Josh looked. He knew he was dead, that it didn't matter, but Josh didn't deserve this.

"People broke in. I think it was another clan, a group... There were so many of them. They were screaming and yelling and they took our people and our things and then they left. So many people were injured, and Joshua, oh my gosh Joshua, he got hurt so badly and there was so much blood and Tyler, I'm so sorry."

Tyler continued to stare at Josh's corpse, his eyes starting to fill with anger. They had killed Josh. They had broken in.

They had destroyed Tyler's happy ending.

This meant war.

"I'm going to revive him," Tyler said suddenly, sentence ended by a snarl. Dallon looked at him with curiosity and a little fear.

"But Tyler--"

"But nothing. Nobody deserves to die this way. We forced him to stay. He's supposed to die of old age seventy years from now, not blown to bits by our own fucked up species." He exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. BF moved within him excitedly, knowing what Tyler was going to do. "I know I've never revived a human. It's going to put a huge toll on my body and spirit, so Blurry's gonna have the reigns for a long ass time. But I have too."

"You know you won't--”

"I know Dallon!" Tyler yelled loudly, another round of tears making their way down his cheeks. "I fucking know. Just please. Carry him downstairs for me." Dallon nodded and shifted Josh's broken body into his arms. Tyler led the way down the hall with his head high, tears silently pouring. The others stared with grief, a mixture of horror and tear stained expressions meeting Tyler. They walked all the way downstairs where Tyler pushed open the heavy door and listened to it creak with wear. He dropped to his knees in defeat and choked down a sob as Dallon laid Josh in front of him.

"I'm so sorry Josh," he whispered. A tear slid off his nose and landed on Josh's arm. Tyler turned up towards Dallon. "I touch him, I go inside. You lock the door and take Josh to his room. Fix him. Make him perfect again. Give him whatever he needs. Tell him I care about him and I'm glad he's ok. Tell him," Tyler choked, "tell him we can't touch anymore. Tell him he'll die if we do, and maybe us not being together is for the best." Blurryface was throwing insults and comments and begging Tyler to "hurry the fuck up." Tyler retaliated with a polite "fuck you."

He then turned towards Josh and leaned down, pressing his lips gently against Josh's soft, _perfect,_ ones. It was cliche, sure. Tyler could have touched Josh anywhere. But Josh was Tyler's escape from the world: Josh was something out of a fairy tale. He was going to kiss his prince one last time.

Blurry kicked him hard, and Tyler was forcing himself into the dark room behind him. He watched as Dallon locked the door with worrisome eyes; Tyler started screaming. Nothing mattered anymore. His self control exercises didn't matter if he didn't have a reason to have self control.

Tyler watched through the eyes of his evil counterpart as Dallon took Josh up the stairs. Josh was okay, and that was all that mattered.

But Tyler no longer had a reason to live.

He curled in a dark corner of his thoughts and cried.


	11. 011

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka, the Dallon chapter.
> 
> Also last night I saw fob in concert and I touched Patrick Stump so now I am writing this from the afterlife.

Josh woke up with a pounding headache.

He felt extremely dirty, even though he had taken a shower only hours earlier. His bed smelled like smoke, and not the good kind that from campfires. It smelled closer to cigarette smoke, but not really, because it didn’t reek of nicotine.

Josh raised a hand to his forehead with a grimace as he tried to push himself up against the wall. His brain was spinning, trying to recall what had happened, and how he had ended up back in his bedroom. Had he fallen asleep? Passed out?

Why couldn’t he remember what had happened?

It wasn’t like it had happened long ago. Yet, he couldn’t remember a single thing.

“Okay Josh,” he whispered to himself as he slid off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. Normal people didn’t speak to themselves, Josh knew that, but then again, Josh wasn’t normal. “Think slowly and calmly. What happened last?” He talked with Brent, visited Spencer and Brendon, met with Tyler...

That was it. That was the last thing he remembered. Maybe Tyler knew.

Unfortunately, that thought was going to have to wait, because Josh found himself staring in the mirror with wide eyes as fear began to pit his stomach. Dried blood matted his hair to his forehead, yet there was no cut or main source for the blood. His clothes were ripped and dirty and covered in more blood, and there was a giant pink rigid line on his arm. Not to mention, the dark scarring looked even darker than usual.

“Something bad happened.”

What had happened after he visited Tyler? Oh God, Tyler. Had he gotten hurt?

Josh wasn’t going to wait around for an answer. He was scampering to push open his door in seconds, taking in a deep breath to smell more of that hazy smoke smell. Josh was starting to get more worried. He practically glided down the stairs, using the railing and wall to jump three or four at a time.

Josh’s stomach did flips when he saw the locked door. It was good, because this meant Tyler hadn’t gotten hurt, but bad, because Tyler wasn’t Tyler and it had been a while since Josh had left. He knocked gently and swallowed when Blurry approached the door.

Surprisingly, he didn’t say a word. All the guy did was make the universal symbol for killing someone with a large toothy grin plastered on his face and walked back into the darkness of Tyler’s room like nothing was wrong.

Dallon was next on Josh’s list. Dallon always knew what was going on.

He made his way down the hallway carefully, feeling uneasy when the smoke smell got stronger. This was strange. Was he having amnesia? But that made no sense. Maybe it was short term, but how had that happened in the first place? Had he hit his head and Dallon came and healed it? It was plausible, but still left question for the giant pink scar that now marked his skin.

He had been aiming to go to Dallon’s room, but there was commotion in the dining room that sparked his attention; Josh could hear it far before he arrived. When he found himself in the large room, the first thing he noticed was that gigantic hole, which was already freaky beyond belief. It was storming pretty hard, rainwater leaking in. There was smoke rising from the edges, wisping away and hissing from the rain. Most of the debris had been pushed out of the way, leaving plenty of room for a makeshift infirmary. Dallon was trying to help everyone at once, his main focus on the serious injuries. So it hadn’t just been Josh. That still didn’t explain how he ended up in his bedroom.

Pete sat at one of the untouched tables holding an ice pack to his bruising head. He also had blood caked in his hair and on his skin, his clothes ripped and grimey. Josh also noticed Gerard and Jack leaning against an untouched wall, murmuring quietly to one another. Jack had a large gash on his arm, but seemed unphased by it. Gerard had a growing, blotchy purple bruise on his head.

Even amongst all the commotion, Josh realized everyone wasn't in here, which probably meant not everyone had been around when whatever this was happened and still left him confused beyond all belief. He needed answers.

“Dallon!” Josh walked quickly, waving when Dallon looked up from healing Frank’s injured shoulder. He pressed his lips into a thin line and whispered something to Frank before meeting Josh halfway.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he stated firmly, carefully nudging Josh back the way he came. Josh shook him off.

“I want answers, and I want them now. What on earth happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Dallon looked sympathetic for a split second before he was shaking his head with a scowl. “Doesn’t matter. You need to go back to your room and get some rest. I’ll come talk to you as soon as I can.”

“I’m not going to do that until you give me some answers. For Christ’s sake Dallon, there is a giant hole in the wall and a bunch of injured people here. Tell me what happened.”

He sighed. “Ok, ok, fine. There was a break in. Another clan. They outnumbered us numerously, and we really couldn’t do anything about it. They took our people, some of our stuff, they left everyone injured, you were killed, and--” Dallon seemed to have realized what he said, and slammed a hand over his mouth as his eyes grew to the size of saucers. He cursed.

Josh stared, puzzled. “Killed? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I can’t talk about this right now. I need to help everyone. We need to assess--” Dallon was cut short by the rumbling of the building, a steady crack ripping through the already torn floor and disappearing through the hole into the woods. A tree cracked in half, roaring loudly as it shifted and fell to the ground with a deafening boom.

“THOSE FUCKING ASSHOLES!” Pete screamed, ice pack discarded on the floor as his body tensed with closed fists. He was shaking with anger. “THEY FUCKING TOOK PATRICK! I’M GOING TO RIP THEIR FUCKING LIMBS OUT OF THERE BODY AND PAINT MY WALLS WITH THEIR BLOOD, I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL THEM!” The ground shifted, one side of the floor rising higher than the other. Josh stepped to the side. Dallon was throwing his arms out, moving closer to Pete, telling him to stay calm, but Pete wasn’t having it.

And then, the room filled with tension and fury as Spencer came barreling down the hallway equally as mad. The minute he was in the dining room he was punching the wall with a deafening crack, not even phased by his now crumpled hand. “Those fuckers took Brendon too. I’m going to murder them. I’m going to FUCKING RIP THEIR HEADS OFF!”

“Mikey’s gone too,” Gerard spat out, turning out from the wall and standing as tall as he could. He was furious too, it was obvious. “I’ll help feed their corpses to the birds. Nobody kidnaps my brother and gets away with it.”

“You guys,” Dallon started, his voice calm. “We need to stay calm, don’t let emotion cloud your better judgement!”

“Fuck you Dallon,” and Josh was surprised to see that was Jack speaking, his eyes dark and voice low. Thick darkness was flooding the corners of the room and seeping inwards. “Alex is missing, and I have a pretty damn good idea of where he went. So you don’t get to fucking tell me to calm down.”

“Joe’s gone too,” Andy pointed out, more sad than angry.

“Look,” Dallon tried to speak over everyone as best he could. “I know they took our people, and we are going to get them back, don’t worry. But we need to think things through completely before we start making accusations. We need to formulate a plan, figure things out--”

“Gabe’s gone too,” somebody yelled from the back, and Dallon looked furious. More furious than Josh had ever seen.

“This means war,” Pete sneered. That was the last straw.

“Everyone in here needs to shut the FUCK UP AND LISTEN TO ME!” Dallon’s voice echoed loudly, even with the rainstorm outside. The darkness evaporated and the shaking stopped. Even some of Spencer’s tension disappeared. Everyone went quiet. Satisfied, Dallon took a deep breath. “Will someone please go bring everyone in here? We need to have a group discussion.”

“I’ll do it,” Hayley volunteered, her voice quiet. She tugged on Lynn’s arm and they disappeared down the hallway. Still, no one dared to move.

“Look. I know you are all upset and distraught, I am too. We need to figure out everyone who is missing. We need to strategize and plan from the bottom up.” Dallon pinched the bridge of his nose as his eyelids fluttered shut for a second.

“Where’s Tyler?” Pete asked. He was still pissed beyond belief, that was very evident, but his tone wasn’t as harsh and loud, for that matter, as it had been.

“Tyler's not home, and will sadly not be home for a couple of weeks. And I’m sorry Pete, but you are in no state to be leading us, so I’m taking control for now. We'll come up with a plan, got it?”

Pete didn’t argue.

Dallon waited until Hayley had returned with the rest of the group. They filed in against the back wall. “Okay,” he muttered to himself, “from the beginning.

“Everyone listen to me. Another clan broke into our building, injured and kidnapped our people, and left. We don’t know where they came from or who they are, but we know this is properly our declaration of war.

I don’t know how they could have found us, but it would make sense if they had someone on the inside. We need to figure out everyone who is missing.” He paused, eyes scanning the crowd as he counted under his breath. Everyone remained silent. “Patrick, Mikey, Brendon, Gabe, Joe, Alex, and Brent are all missing. And at the moment, all we know is that they're not here.”

“I bet it’s Gabe,” someone said from the crowd. The room filled with murmurs.

“No, it’s probably Brendon.”

“What about Mikey?”

“Why does it have to be somebody missing? It could be Pete for all we know.”

“Enough!” Dallon yelled again. “Stop arguing. I can assure you it is no one here. I could tell if you were hiding something.” He closed his eyes. “I’m sifting through everyone’s emotions. Everyone seems... no, that’s not right...” Dallon’s eyes flickered open. He seemed worried. “I think I know who it is.”

And then something seemed to click in Josh’s head. He remembered Pete telling him about a nearby clan that liked to torture humans. Except, what if they weren’t torturing, but experimenting? And they kidnapped talents to use their DNA?

Josh was suddenly very happy Brent had left. He could have _died,_  going off and agreeing to be their test subject. They could have turned him into a monster.

“Dallon,” Josh spoke, and everyone looked at him. He cleared his throat and continued. “Pete, a long time ago, told me there was a nearby clan that was rumored to be kidnapping humans and torturing them. But Brent, he told me he wanted to make humans like you guys, so there wouldn’t be any individuality. If everyone is super, than no one is super.” No one was stopping him, so Josh kept going. “But what if they aren’t just torturing humans, they’re experimenting on them? Trying to make them like you, and maybe getting closer to achieving?”

“That would make sense to why they need talents. You can’t make a clone without the physical copy.” Dallon rubbed his chin, upset with the news. “It’s a whole covert operation, right under our noses this entire time.”

“Can’t believe we let that motherfucker into our home,” Pete growled.

“Wait Joshua, Brent told you about wanting to turn humans into talents?” asked Dallon. Josh nodded his head. He knew he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone this information, but Brent was no longer here, and Josh would no way in hell do business with him. He was a traitor.

“He told me what he wanted to do, but said he had been looking around for people to help him out. I think he trusted me because I’m a human amidst all of you.”

“But the dude’s clan had been doing this for years, or so it seems,” Jack added as he crossed his arms over his chest. Dallon nodded.

“It would also make sense to why Brent is not feeling any fear right now.”

“So we take the motherfucker out,” Spencer pushed, digging his fist into his other hand. “We kill every single person in that clan.”

“Well it’s a little hard to do that if we don’t know where they are, correct?” Dallon dragged a hand down his face with a sigh. “I’ll come up with a plan. We'll find them, and put them down. But for now, we need to worry about the problems here. Everyone needs to take care of one another. If you have an injury that can be bandaged, please do so. I’ll try and heal everyone as best as I can, but I only have two hands.” Dallon pointed to Keegan, who seemed shocked someone was even talking to him. “Keegan, I need you and two others to go down to the storage room and bring back our medical supplies and emergency food. I don’t think anyone is going to want to cook for a while. Gerard?” Gerard looked over at Dallon. “You want to see if you can find some sort of lead?”

“Sure thing.” Gerard was gone two seconds later.

“Zack, can you gather some people to start cleaning up in here? We need to find some sort of tarp to cover up the hole.” He nodded, pulling on Rian’s arm gently.

“Lynn, I want you to be in charge of training. If we are declaring war, we need to be prepared for it. We can’t let emotions get the better of us. This isn’t your average sparring match, this is for real. It’s serious. I’ll sort you into groups and we'll start focusing on perfecting our skills to the best of our ability.

“Lastly, everyone needs to stick together and help one another out. I want close ties on everyone. I need to know where you are at all times. We don’t want something like this happening again.” Dallon looked around the room at everyone’s faces before clapping his hands together. “Okay, that’s it. Roll out. If you sustained a serious injury, let me know and I’ll get right on top of that.” Commotion once again filled the room, and Josh prepared to go help move wreckage out of the way when Dallon grabbed his arm.

“Joshua, I really need you to go to your room. I’ll be over to speak with you as soon as I finish here.”

Josh narrowed his eyes and shrugged out of Dallon’s reach. “You know what? No. I’m just as useful as everyone around here. I didn’t get hurt. I can help!”

“For God’s sake Joshua, can you please listen to me? I just need you to do this for me. You did get hurt, trust me. You got very hurt, and you need help.”

“Why is Tyler out of commission? What happened?”

Dallon sighed loudly. “I can’t talk to you about this right now. I promise I will answer all your questions in a little bit. Just, please, go to your room. I’ll be in there as soon as I can.” Josh groaned audibly, but nodded his head in defeat.

“Fine.” He dragged the word out and turned on his heel to sulk down the hallway.

Just because he was human didn’t mean he couldn’t help. He was useful. He was strong. He had wit. In fact, if it hadn’t been for him connecting the dots, they might still be at square one. So ha, Josh was useful. He was extremely useful.

“They better let me train,” he muttered to himself, because dammit, he wasn’t going to sit back while everyone marched to save his friends. He wasn’t the family dog, he was a person who was very capable of helping.

When Josh threw open his bedroom door, he let it slam against the wall. Then he was stripping, pulling off his dirty clothes, and stepping into a scorching hot shower. He liked the way the water burned when it hit his skin, evaporating quickly. Josh was tired of getting treated like a child. He wasn’t one. In fact, he was pretty damn sure he was older than some people here.

“Go to your room Joshua, get some rest Joshua, let the adults take care of things Joshua,” he mimicked Dallon’s voice mockingly, anger laced thick within his tone. He wished Tyler was himself, but then again, Tyler would probably be the same way. “Josh, you need to be protected, blah, blah, blah.” This time he was mocking Tyler’s falsetto, scowling as he stepped out of the shower sopping wet. Josh didn’t even bother to dry off, just slipped into boxers and a t-shirt, letting the fabric press against his wet skin as he dropped to his bed and stared at the wall in front of him.

Damn, did he wish he had a ball or something.

 ---

 

Josh wasn’t quite sure how long he stared at that wall, but he knew it was a long time. His legs had fallen asleep by the time Dallon was stepping into his bedroom and closing the door quietly behind him. He sat down next to Josh with a sigh.

“So, I know you’re mad at me. But I have good intentions, I promise.”

“Whatever,” Josh mumbled.

Dallon raised an eyebrow. “You don’t need to act like a child.”

“Well you know what?” He jerked to face Dallon, eyes filling with anger and frustration like a balloon. “I’m going to act like a child if I get treated like one.”

“Joshua, I don’t know what better way to come out and say this besides just coming out and saying this, but you were dead. You legally died. I couldn’t heal you, because you were dead.”

Josh scoffed. “Right. I’m still here Dallon, in case you didn’t notice.”

Dallon reacted frantically, grabbing Josh by the shoulders and shaking him harshly. He said his words nice and slow. “Listen to me! You died. That explosion killed you. You hit your head, your arm sustained a terrible burn, and your heart was no longer beating. That’s why you had blood on your head and on your clothes. That’s why there is now a scar on your arm, because I had to go help everyone else who was hurt in the explosion. I couldn’t finish.”

Josh blinked, letting the information soak into his head. He gulped. “Is that why I can’t remember anything?”

Dallon nodded. “I would assume. And Tyler...” he took a shaky breath. “Tyler brought you back to life.”

“What?” Josh had heard Dallon perfectly fine, he just needed to make sure Dallon was being serious. Because... that was serious.

“He’s never brought a human back to life, but he said... well, let’s put it this way, you didn’t deserve to die like that. You didn’t. So he gave you another chance at life.”

“Oh my God,” whispered Josh, because he had been dead, and Tyler had revived him. Tyler had used his power to save him. Him, of all people.

“It put a heavy toll on his spirit and physical body, so he’s not going to have much strength to do anything. Unfortunately, Joshua, I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Dallon cast his eyes to the comforter, letting his hands tangle in it below. Josh felt his heart sink.

“Because Tyler broke the natural law of things by bringing you back to life, you guys, you can’t, uhm, touch anymore. You can’t touch Tyler. You touch him, and you die again. Just like that.”

Josh couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. He felt like he was dying.

“He wanted me to tell you that he’s glad you’re okay, that he cares about you a lot. But you guys, you can’t be together anymore, and maybe that’s for the best.” Dallon sighed. “I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this.”

His own words being thrown in his face.

Dying by his own hand.

Josh shifted closer to Dallon and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in Dallon’s shirt. Josh was trying his hardest not to cry, but he really hadn’t ever been that strong.

Dallon gripped his hair gently, soothing him as he cried violently into his shoulder. The only good thing Josh had was ripped away from him because he had to go and die like a loser.

“Hey, shh, it’s okay. I know it’s hard to lose a relationship, but I can’t tell you how thankful I am that you’re alive. I was a mess when I realized I was too late. It reminded me too much of...” his words trailed off, leaving the room in a tangle of Josh’s muffled sobs. Dallon was thinking.

“I had a family before I came here Joshua. A good, beautiful family. We were perfect. I had a job, we went to church, we ate dinner together as a family. I had a wife and two beautiful, outstanding, _wonderful_ children.

“I was a late bloomer with my powers. My parents always told me I would probably end up getting something, because it was ‘just in my nature.’ I always wanted to help people. But that doesn’t matter. Anyways, I was 28 years old, and it didn’t look like I was getting that extra kick in truly being a talent. So I forgot about it. But as the year went on, I realized that maybe things were weird, that I could do weird stuff, but I ignored it. I didn’t expand upon it. It didn’t matter to me, because I was occupied with the good things in my life. My family, my job, my friends.

“One night, we were driving home from my parent’s house back in Utah, trying our hardest to get back to California. It was snowing so badly, and my wife kept telling me to pull over, but I wasn’t listening. I was determined to make it back. It was late, and dark, and we hit a patch of black ice and the car went spiraling off the road down this hill. Everyone was screaming, and all I can remember is just this horrible, _horrible_ , pain, and then darkness. Snow was filling the car, coming in through the broken windows. There was glass and blood everywhere. I could hear crying too, but it didn’t last very long.

“I was looking around, trying to figure out what was going on, and right before my eyes, my broken arm was healing itself, the bones mending themselves back together. Every cut, every bruise, just disappearing, and all I could do was stare.” Dallon was starting to cry himself now. Josh didn’t dare breathe.

“My wife told me she loved me, and I just stared at myself. I didn’t even look at her, I couldn’t look at her, because I knew how broken and hurt she was and I was afraid. But, holy hell, I could heal. I could heal, but I didn’t, and my family died right in front of me. I could have healed them, could have saved them, and I didn’t. And a single day hasn’t gone by where I don’t think about that. I hate myself for that. It’s my fault I lost them.

“Pete found me a few days later, trying to commit suicide. He talked me out of it and brought me here. And I’ve been here ever since.

“But the point of this story Josh, is that I have a new family here. Tyler, Patrick, Pete, Brendon, everyone else, I care deeply about them. And you. You Joshua, out of anyone here, you feel like a son to me the most. You’re important to me, and seeing you dead on the floor, that pit in my stomach that told me I had failed, and I wanted to kill myself all over again. What Tyler did was selfless, and I can’t thank him enough for saving you. I can’t lose you Joshua.”

Josh shifted to better properly hug Dallon tightly. “You’re important to me too Dallon. Thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me. It means so much to know you care about me that way.”

“Well of course Josh. I know I’m overprotective of you, it’s just-”

“You called me Josh.” Josh sat up, a goofy lopsided grin on his face. “You called me Josh!”

Dallon raised an eyebrow. “Don’t get used to it Joshua.”

“William,” Josh mumbled, grin still plastered on his face. “That’s my middle name.”

“Joshua William Dun,” Dallon nodded his head satisfactory, pleased with the way it sounded on his tongue. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

“If you ever want to toss a ball around or crack a dad joke, I’m here.”

Dallon glared at him. “Don’t be an asshole Joshua.”

Josh raised his hands defensively. “I’m not. I’m just saying. You can even scold me for saying the word fuck.”

“Alright, that’s it. You’re grounded.” he sounded serious, but there was a glimmer of enjoyment in his eyes and the corners of his mouth were tilted slightly.

Josh groaned loudly and let his back fall onto the bed. “But Daaaaaaaaad!”

“Don’t make me use your full name mister, I don’t want to hear another word from you!” Dallon was full on grinning now, and Josh couldn’t help but return it.

“Thanks Dallon. For making me feel better.”

“No, thank you. For understanding. And I’m gonna always be here, you know. I’m always gonna be around. If you need to talk to someone.”

Josh nodded. “I know.”

Dallon patted Josh’s knee and stood up from the bed. “You really should try and get some rest. Tomorrow we can see what you can help with. As for tonight, I have a lot to do. Do you need anything?”

“A baseball would be really great.”

Dallon rolled his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do.” Then he was smiling once more and disappearing behind the door.

Things were shitty, that was very blatantly evident. He didn’t understand how, but somewhere inside him, Josh could feel a small flicker of hope.

Now to sleep.


	12. 012

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are happening.

It was chaos in the building for the next couple of weeks.

Everyone was doing something, whether it be cleaning, training, or just watching. Dallon spent his days cooped up in his bedroom, eyes shut as he sifted through emotions, checking to make sure everyone was okay or seeing if he could get a read on where they might be and formulate a plan. Gerard was constantly out running and looking for some sort of trail.

Josh had overheard Gerard speaking with Dallon; he felt the break in was his fault. They had done security checks that day, but should have stayed out there and didn’t.

Dallon assured him it was not anyone's fault.

Pete never left his room. He sat on Patrick’s bed, staring at the wall in front of him, unmoving. It was terrible seeing Pete so vulnerable, so upset. Josh never had realized how important Patrick was to him.

The others who had lost people spent their time in a different way. Spencer and Jack were with Lynn in the gym as much as possible, practicing combat or strictly working out. Spencer was always mad everywhere he went, and Jack, well, it was hard to get a read on him.

Of course, everyone wanted to get the kidnapped back, and everyone was upset about it. Josh was upset about it too. They were his friends after all. So Josh had pestered Dallon for a week, begging to let him help, to let him train or do _something_ , and Dallon had finally given in. Josh now joined Hayley and Keegan for training. He was the weakest link by all means, and he was powerless, but they treated him kindly, didn’t say anything bad when Josh ended up on the floor covered in bruises or pinned against the wall by Hayley morphed into himself.

And Dallon.

Dallon was a good, organized leader. He had assigned everyone groups, and they were to do things together at all times (Thus why Josh was with Hayley and Keegan). He made sure everyone was okay at all times, constantly checked up on everyone, and gave encouragements like there was no tomorrow. He was a fantastic choice.

Sometimes Josh sat with Dallon in his room and watched him work. Sometimes he would talk to Dallon about his problems, about how hard training was today, or about how he was missing Tyler, how he wished he would get better so he could talk to him. And sometimes Josh had to come to Dallon because he had really gotten hurt.

It was true, he supposed. Josh really did miss Tyler. And he had every right to. Things had gone south for them when they had been going so nice and smoothly, and Josh assumed Tyler wasn’t going to get back on that path. He had daydreams, about the two of them still talking and being friends even though they couldn’t touch, but Josh knew Tyler was going to blame himself for everything that happened to Josh and that just wasn’t his fault.

Josh did visit of course. He’d stand outside the door and watch Tyler from the outside, knowing perfectly well it wasn’t Tyler, but it was still nice to pretend. He’d give him updates from upstairs and ignore Blurry’s laughter and insults for trying to speak with Tyler. “He’s too far gone,” he spit out with a smirk, and Josh would have no choice but to turn and go upstairs. He came downstairs to see Tyler, not to be forced into oblivion by a crazy psychopathic villain.

Today Josh had training, and to be completely honest, he wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Why did I think this was ever going to be a good idea,” Josh mumbled as he pulled open the gym door. Hayley and Keegan were already inside warming up as he dropped his bag on the floor. Lynn was over in the corner scribbling something inside a notebook. A update log for Dallon, he guessed.

“Hey Josh!” Hayley beamed as she waved frantically. Her appearance was flickering between several different people; her mind must have been somewhere else. Keegan waved as well.

“Hey.” Josh joined them on the mat and cracked his knuckles. Here went nothing.

“Ok guys,” Lynn turned around and joined the circle, firmly planting her hands on her hips. “We are doing hand to hand combat today again, so I’m going to have Josh with me first. You guys are welcome to practice with each other or do something else in here.” Josh sighed. Of course.

While Keegan and Hayley went to do their own thing, Josh shifted to stand directly in front of Lynn. She flashed a reassuring smile.

“Hey Josh, don’t be nervous. This is why we’re practicing. We know you can’t reach the limit we can, and that’s perfectly okay. We are here to reach your limit.”

Josh refrained from rolling his eyes. “Right.” Okay, that was a tad too much sarcasm than he had been meaning to put out.

Lynn scoffed. “Alright then, show me what you remember.”

Josh bent his knees slightly and threw a punch, but she caught it easily. With a smirk, she was twisting his arm and using his back to slide over and give her enough force to flip him all the way to other side of the room. The minute his back hit the ground he winced and rolled over with a groan. Lynn dusted off her hands.

“Come on Dun, you’re better than that.” He glared at her. “You need to be one step ahead of your opponent. Everyone we are planning on fighting Josh, they aren’t human. They are like us. And if you are serious about fighting, you need to be two steps ahead because they will already be one ahead of you.” Josh huffed loudly as he used the wall to pull himself up. Lynn walked over to him, still talking. “I anticipated your punch because you’ve thrown that same one before. You need to spice things up. Do a fakeout, change things up. I know you’re strong Josh. You need to prove that.”

“Okay. Fine. Go again.” He spun his finger in a circle and went back to his previous stance. This time Lynn threw a punch, and he actually managed to avoid getting hit. Then he was rolling around her and standing up right as she swung back around. Her punch nailed him directly in the face. “Fucking GOD!”

She clucked her tongue. “This isn’t the first time we’ve done this. And you seem to be doing a lot worse than usual.”

“You seem to be doing a lot worse than usual, blah, blah, blah,” he mimicked her in a high falsetto as one hand raised to his face. “I’ve always sucked at this shit!”

Lynn shrugged. “You aren’t terrible. Come on, one more round. You can throw first punch.” Josh continued glaring, but gave in with a sigh. He stood, watching her stupid face with it’s stupid smirk.

He’d wipe that stupid smirk clear off her face.

Josh threw a punch with his opposite hand, which Lynn easily grabbed. However, she hadn’t been expecting Josh’s other fist to slam into her head.

Lynn stumbled backwards, but quickly regained her footing and charged Josh angrily; he crouched and let her slam right into him, sending Lynn tumbling as he flipped her backwards. Josh smiled triumphantly as she stared at him from the floor, one hand rubbing at her head.

“Well done Josh!”

He nodded his head. “Thank you.”

“Two steps ahead. That was good. Now do something like that, every time. Oh, and uh, pay attention.”

Before Josh could even figure out what was going on, she had swung a leg into his, knocking his legs out from underneath him. Josh hit the ground with a groan.

“The enemy is going to make a countermove, even when you think they’re down. You need to pay attention to your surroundings and expect the unexpected at all times. Got it?”

“Yeah. I got it.”

“Alright. Again.”

 ---

 

After training, which consisted of Josh actually not getting beat up as much for once, he took a hot shower and visited Dallon’s room.

Dallon looked up from a spread of papers covering his bed except for the spot he sat in when Josh poked his head in and waved him over. Josh leaned against Dallon’s dresser.

“How can I help you Joshua?” Dallon had a smirk on his face. “You have a black eye.”

“Oh wow, thanks, I didn’t know what was on my face.” Josh rolled his eyes with annoyance.

Dallon chuckled softly. “Is training getting better? Or do you want to quit?”

Josh scowled. “I’m not quitting.”

“I know.” He studied the papers for a brief moment before looking back up at Josh. “I’m still not any closer to finding them.”

“How’s everyone doing at least?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t checked in a while. I’ve been too busy looking at a map, trying to calculate how far they walked and how many there could have been. I mean, they kidnapped six of our people and had to get them back to their base without any trouble, so there has to be a lot of them.” with a long sigh Dallon closed his eyes and went to massage his temples. “Brendon is afraid, and he’s in pain, but not too much pain. I assume they are using them for DNA. Joe is quiet, Alex... he is not enjoying his time there, no surprise, Gabe is in a lot of pain, he’s terrified, and Patrick...”

Like the quick snap of a rubberband, Dallon had slipped into some sort of trace, screaming and falling to the floor. Josh raced around the side to help him, trying to pull on his arm.

“Dallon! Dallon, you have to tell me what is going on. What’s wrong?”

“Patrick,” began Dallon through gritted teeth, “Oh my god, _Patrick_...”

“Snap out of it Dallon, don’t hurt yourself, please.”

Dallon opened his eyes and his body went limp as he struggled to catch his breath. Josh stared in worry. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.”

“What? What happened?”

“That poor guy...” he trailed off, eyes wide in sympathy. “The amount of pain he was in is unbearable. I could practically hear him screaming. It was burning the inside of my eyelids... Just, oh my gosh.”

“We’ve got to hurry. If they are all suffering, and Patrick is close to death...” Josh swallowed loudly. “Oh Pete, he’s not going to be happy.”

Dallon pushed Josh away and pulled himself back onto the bed. “We don’t tell him. We just need to hurry.” he closed his eyes once more with a shaky breath and pressed his lips into a thin line. “Mikey is... nothing.”

Josh raised an eyebrow. “Nothing?”

Dallon’s eyes shot open. “Oh my goodness!” He stood up and grabbed Josh by the shoulders. “Mikey is our ticket in. He can teleport! How did we forget about that? Oh my gosh!”

“But he’s not here. I don’t understand.”

“Mikey’s in pain, but he isn’t showing any fear, and his pain isn’t even that much. I think he’s letting them think they have him. They aren’t suspecting anything. He’s just waiting to make his move."

A smile made its way onto Josh’s face. “That’s great news! He’ll come back here, and--”

“And we’ll be ready to make _our_ move.” Dallon sighed with relief. “I don’t know when he’ll come back, so we need to be ready at all times. We need to step up our game.” he began piling all the papers into one stack. “I’ll tell everyone our plan. Do you want to gather everyone in the dining room?”

“Uh, yeah. I can do that.”

Dallon paused to gently brush Josh’s arm. He smiled softly. “Thank you for all your help. Oh! And before I forget.” he pushed past Josh and pulled open a dresser drawer to reveal a baseball, complete with bright red stitching. He tossed it Josh’s way.

Josh let out a loud laugh as he stared at the ball in his hands. “You actually got me a baseball.”

“Of course I did.” Dallon was laughing too. “I’ll see you in a couple minutes?”

Josh nodded, gripping the ball tightly as he pushed open the door and disappeared down the hall. He went to all the main places people would be, the gym and popular hang out bedrooms, sending everyone to the room no one really enjoyed stepping into. There was a tarp over the hole now, but you could still hear the whistle of the wind and the occasional scurry of an animal. He ignored all the weird looks he and his baseball were getting.

Then Josh stood outside Pete’s room, people chatting as they walked behind him. With one deep breath, he knocked and pushed himself in.

Pete sat on the edge of Patrick’s bed, staring at the wall in complete darkness. He was twisting his fingers around in his lap when Josh turned the light on. Pete glared at Josh with a hiss, his head ducking as eyes adjusted.

“I’m sorry to bother you Pete. But uhm, Dallon has news regarding the break in.”

“He’ll come tell me.” Pete sounded dead.

“I’m really sorry about Patrick. But we are going to get him back, okay? That’s what the news is about. Mikey is going to come back and he’ll know where the building is. Then you can take everyone down.”

“Dallon’s been telling me how Patrick is. And things, they don’t seem good. He’s got a good heart, this is going to put a toll on him, and I’m so worried Josh, I’m so fucking scared.” his voice cracked at the end, revealing a fresh set of tears that were now rolling down his cheeks in numerous amounts. Josh sighed, reaching out to put an arm around Pete. It didn’t help Josh knowing Patrick was in a lot of pain. Pete couldn’t know that.

“Patrick’s going to be okay. He’s only been there a couple weeks, and we are getting really close to finding them. We just need to be ready to break in and get them. And we will, I promise.”

“You’re still a bad fucking liar.”

“I’m not lying, you have to trust me. I have doubts on whether or not they’re okay, but each of them is strong and I believe they’ll make it. We are going to rescue them, and then everything will go back to normal.” Pete sniffed, but nodded his head.

“Thanks for talking to me. I’ve just been sitting in here, making myself worried sick, because of this whole thing. But then you... I’m sorry what happened between you and Tyler. But in all honesty, I’m glad you’re not dead. You’re a good person man. I’m serious.”

Josh shrugged. “Thank you Pete, that means a lot. But I can’t focus on what could have been with Tyler and I. There are more important things to worry about, like getting Patrick and the others back.” he patted Pete’s knee and stood up from the bed. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will.”

Josh shut the door quietly behind him and finished his trip into the dining room, where the crowd was murmuring and Dallon stood waiting.

For Josh apparently.

“Joshua!” He waved him over and pointed to the spot next to him. “Stand here.” Josh obeyed. “Alright. This meeting is in session.”

Everyone piped down and directed all their attention on Dallon and Josh, who still had that stupid baseball in his hands. He groaned internally. So much for looking professional.

“I have recently come across some good news regarding our current state. That news is about Mikey Way.” Gerard perked up from his corner and took a few steps forward. Dallon smiled his way. “Mikey is coming home.”

The crowd cheered, and Gerard looked like he was about to cry. Frank pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek; others were patting him on the back and whispering encouragements. Dallon waited until they quieted down to continue.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know when that is going to be. This means we need to be on our toes at all times. We need to train harder, be faster, be smarter than ever before. We need to be ready. Because when Mikey gets home, we are going to get a plan going and move out. We are going to save the others.” Everyone cheered again, but something didn’t feel right to Josh.

And that was Tyler.

He was still in the basement, trapped, just like the others, and he really shouldn’t be left out of the loop. Josh realized he probably did know some stuff, as Josh had been telling him about it, but he thought maybe they should wait for him. After all, Tyler was the rightful leader of this group.

Josh tugged on Dallon’s sleeve to get his attention away from the celebrating crowd. “Dallon, I feel like we should wait for Tyler’s opinion on all of this.”

Dallon sighed. “Joshua, you need to understand that Tyler is not going to be himself for a while. We don’t know when he’s going to even be strong enough to take control again. We don’t have time to wait. We need to get our people back from these evil sons of bitches. Do you not agree?”

“I agree completely, I just feel he should have some part in all of this, don’t you think?”

“We can talk about this later, alright?” with a shake of his head, he was throwing his voice back out to the entire crowd. “Okay, so remember what I said and we should be good to go. Meeting over!” He looked at Josh one final time before walking down the hallway. Gerard came up to Josh before he could escape the room.

“Hey, a bunch of us are gonna go out for drinks. You wanna come with?” He grinned hopefully, but Josh shook his head.

“Nah, that’s okay. I’m not a big alcohol person. I’m probably just gonna go help Dallon out.” _Lie._ “Thanks though.” Then he was practically darting down the hallway to his room.

He wasn’t going to help Dallon. Not anymore.

Sometimes it felt like his opinions really didn’t matter. But maybe he was just being childish.

“Whatever,” he grumbled as he stretched out across his bed. He could do whatever he wanted.

Josh stared at the baseball in his hand. Upon further inspection, he could see it was worn out, the stitching starting to fray. He wondered where Dallon had gotten it.

And then, under a part of frayed stitching, were the initials K. W. scribbled in Dallon’s messy handwriting with black sharpie. It was starting to blur away and fade. The W was for Weekes most likely, but the K...

“Oh my god,” whispered Josh, because the gears in his head finally clicked. The ball had to have belonged to one of his children.

And Dallon had given it to him.

Josh quickly shoved it under his pillow, a million different thoughts coming into his head through a flood gate. Dallon shouldn’t have done that, he really shouldn’t have.

Josh decided he was going to take a nap.

 

\---

 

When Josh woke up, the first place he went was Tyler’s locked doors. He stared at Blurry curiously.

“Good to see you again Josh, although I’m not quite sure why you’re down here again.” he was smirking, evil as ever. Josh noticed tiny slits in his wrist.

He had been cutting.

“You need to stop hurting him,” Josh said firmly as he folded his arms across his chest. Blurryface rolled his eyes.

“Tyler’s the one that asked me to do it, and you know I'll take any chance I can get to cause him some pain.”

Josh opened his mouth to call bullshit, but he had a feeling it probably wasn’t.

Which broke his heart.

“Dallon found out Mikey is planning on coming home. He’s going to lead us to the building where we can get the others.” Josh cast his eyes to the ground, not really wanting to look at his face. Not when he could practically see Tyler with dead eyes behind Blurry’s malice.

“Guess it’s time for one of Josh’s famous updates, isn’t it?” He scoffed.

“I still miss you Tyler. I hope you’re feeling better.”

“He isn’t.”

“I realized this week that there is stuff you still don’t know about me. And I thought you might want to hear.”

“Borrrrriiinngg.” He dragged the word out, completing it with an audible groan.

“My birthday is June 18th. I don’t know when June is. I don’t even know what month it is. So I guess I better figure that out.”

“Hope you’re not expecting me to answer these back.”

“My favourite colour is blue, I’ve dyed my hair practically every colour of the rainbow but I think my favourite was the blue. I can play trumpet, I love Mariokart and I used to eat a lot of Taco Bell before coming here. I also really, really like cats. Specifically kittens.”

“Boy Josh, I am terrified of you.”

“I’ve only ever been in two serious relationships before you. They were both with girls.” Josh rubbed his neck awkwardly. “I didn’t exactly realize how gay I was before seeing you.”

Blurry laughed loudly, but it didn’t sound evil. It sounded like Tyler.

It sounded comforting.

“When I was a teenager I spent most of high school in the bathroom smoking weed with the stoners. I never did my homework and I loved to piss off my parents. That’s why I went into the drug business in the first place. But it really sucked. I got hit a lot and never seemed to do anything right.

“I have a brother and two sisters. I haven’t talked to them since I left home. I’m the oldest. I never had any close friends until I came here. I was a loser. I mean, I still am a loser.

“Oh, and Tyler, I think I’m in love with you.”

He looked up to meet Blurry's ruby eyes, face masked with a smirk to really just fit the mood. (Translation: sarcasm.) It was dumb of Josh to be doing this right now, but he had to tell Tyler somehow and didn’t really want to wait.

Blurry’s expression seemed to soften, and for a split second he looked like plain old Tyler. Normal Tyler. The Tyler Josh loved.

But it didn’t last long.

He clapped slowly and loudly. “Wow Josh, what a good, heartfelt confession. Truly brought me to tears.”

“Good, cause it was for you too.”

That brought him to a stop. He stared at Josh in confusion, headed tilted slightly. “What?”

“You and Tyler are the same person, and I love everything about you guys. You’ve changed my life in a positive way. I don’t mind dealing with you. And I’m going to be completely honest with you: I’ve gotten hard thinking of just you.”

“Well shit, I’m honored.”

“But the point is, you need to be in my life just as much as I need Tyler in my life, and that’s the truth.”

“You are more stupid than I could have ever thought.”

“Just think about it for a minute. Think how powerful you two could be if you weren’t constantly fighting for power. What if you joined together? What if you worked together towards a common goal? Things would be so much more easy. You could truly enjoy life.”

“I don’t understand. You realize you can’t touch Tyler anymore, right? You can’t touch me either.”

Josh nodded. “I’m fully aware. All I’m saying is, try something new. Something the enemy wouldn’t expect. Be two steps ahead because they are always going to be one already. Spark things up. Instead of torturing Tyler like he’s used to, I don’t know, help him instead?” he shrugged, taking a few steps backwards.

“I love you guys, I really do. All I want is for the two of you to be one single happy person.”

Then Josh was scampering up the stairs, leaving the evil psychopathic killer confused and speechless beyond all belief.


	13. 013

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments entertain me. Thank you.

Tyler really wished he knew what time it was.

Or better yet, what day it was.

He also really wanted strong, bright lighting, because being where he was right now, it was dark and damp from where he could see Blurry doing whatever the hell he wanted and it was hurting his eyes. There were some days (well, maybe days, he wasn’t quite sure) where Tyler would attempt to move, to take over, but it was like trying to move a mountain. All he wanted to do was figure out what was going on upstairs.

And he was extremely thankful that Josh would come down and give him information. Even though Blurryface was being a dick most of the time, Tyler was listening, and he was glad they seemed to be doing okay.

But then Josh said he loved him.

And Tyler wanted to punch himself in the face.

Why did they have such poor timing? This was ridiculous. Things had been going so well, they were practicing, Josh was healthy, Tyler was actually living like a normal person for once, and then everything had to get destroyed by Brent and his stupid clan. (Josh had told Tyler they believed Brent was the inside guy. He could believe it.)

Today Tyler had his knees pulled up to his chest, listening to Blurry hum happily as he carved a set of tally marks into the wall and then went to work on whittling Tyler’s wrist all over again. It hurt, boy did it hurt, but it reminded Tyler that he needed to regain strength, needed to get back in charge.

Blurry spoke. “Hey Tyler, did you hear what your boyfriend said?”

Tyler’s eyes widened in shock, because Blurry never talked out loud to him. He usually just warred inside their head. He tried to remember what Josh had said, but after he had said he loved him, Tyler kind of zoned out.

_Josh said a lot of things._

“But this one was different.” He set the knife down on the desk and began tracing patterns in the blood. Tyler grimaced.

_Are you going to go clean that up?_

“Eventually. Patience, Tyler.” After he pushed himself out of the chair, he began pacing the room. “He said he loved me. That he loved both of us.”

_Ok, and?_

“Well that’s a little weird, don’t you think? I mean, why would he love me? He should hate me. I’ve done plenty of things to make him hate me. I tried to kill him.”

_Josh has a good heart._

“That doesn’t matter.” He raised a hand to his chin, smearing blood all over his face. Tyler sighed internally. Great.

_You’re making us look ridiculous. Go clean up if you’re going to monologue._

“Shut up Tyler, I can do whatever I want. I’m in charge. Besides, I’m thinking.”

_Ooh, don’t hurt yourself. That’s dangerous for you._

“I think you forgot I can hurt you a lot more than you can hurt me.” Blurry growled, causing Tyler to shrink and stand down. He didn’t need to be in any more pain today.

_Sorry._

He scoffed. “Whatever. But you know what else he said? What if we worked together. How ridiculous is that? He said he wanted me to be happy. Happy. What on earth is that word supposed to mean? No one is happy.”

_Josh makes me happy._

Blurry didn’t respond. He only went into the bathroom and took off all his clothes to climb into a scalding hot shower. Tyler winced at first, because damn, that water was hot, but he usually took hot showers anyways so it didn’t take long for him to get used to it. Blurry watched all the blood swirl down the drain as it slid down his arm. Well, their arm.

“What would our common goal even be? If we did work together? I mean, we can’t work together. I’m night and you’re day. If night and day worked together, the balance would be thrown off. It doesn’t make any sense.”

_It’s not night and day working together, it's the sun and the moon. They work together to create night and day._

He sighed loudly and banged his head against the wall. “I’m not supposed to be having feelings. That’s what you’re supposed to deal with, not me. I mean, I’m not supposed to be questioning this kind of stuff. Whoever is stronger wins, and that’s me. Right? Right. Uh, I think. No! I’m right. I’m always right.”

_You don’t sound so sure right now._

“Don’t test me Tyler, I can tear you to shreds. I just, I don’t-”

 _At a loss for words? That’s new_. Tyler felt bored. But the problem was, he didn’t feel anything. There wasn’t any emotions or feelings swirling around within him. It was like he was just there.

It was like they had switched places.

“Oh my god,” he said, like the sudden realization had hit him right in the face. “I’m having feelings for a human. A fucking human! This, this is not right. I don’t like this.” he growled. “Tyler, what on earth did you do?”

_I didn’t do a single thing. This is all you._

“It’s almost been a month. Have I ever been in control for a month? I don’t think I have. I mean, not without you struggling at least. Am I-- no. That doesn’t work. I can’t be turning into you. We are different, separate people. This isn’t how things work.”

_So are you telling me you actually feel like a normal person? Not some crazy psychotic villain?_

“I could think about killing Josh without feeling anything, and now, now, I feel guilty about it. He said he loved me, us, and I think I, we, love him back. He’s beautiful, he’s nice, and I could never physically harm him, never again. I, oh my god.” His eyes widened when he realized just thinking about Josh had made him hard. And Tyler, he had nothing to do with it.

_Oh boy, you are in too deep. Welcome to emotionator, the best emotional rollercoaster in the entire United States._

“Shut up Tyler!” With a frustrated sigh BF ran his hands through his wet hair and leaned against the wall. “I just, I need to think about this. I can’t, I don’t understand.”

_So, what are some of the things you like about Josh? His voice perhaps? His hair? His eyes? His tattoos?_

“Stop it.”

_Do you like seeing him without a shirt? Do you like watching me dominate him? Which, by the way, I know you play a part in that. I can feel you. You like when things get rough and you get angry when you don’t get invited to play._

He growled again. “I said fucking stop it!”

_If you were serious about working together, then the minute we find a common goal, we work together. As for now, I’ll let you do whatever. As long as you hurry up and jerk off for a good while because it’s my dick too and it’s hurting._

“Shut up Tyler.” he was quieter this time, but didn’t hesitate to start doing what Tyler asked.

 

\---

 

It had been a month and they weren’t any closer to finding the others. Dallon had expected Mikey to be back by now, but he still wasn’t, and the building had been on high alert for a while and it was causing some pretty high tensions. People were starting to get angry and upset with Dallon for not doing anything or making any advances.

But he’d only tell them the same thing. “Patience, don’t get in over your head.”

Josh was getting worried. Dallon kept him updated on the status of everyone missing, but things weren’t looking good.

One day Dallon knocked on Josh’s bedroom door. Josh himself hadn’t been doing much, only avoiding training because he really didn’t want to get another black eye, so he let a distraught Dallon in.

“What’s up?” Josh asked as he sat back down on his bed. His hand shot under his pillow to pull out the baseball. For some reason it had become some kind of comfort object to him. He never had confronted Dallon about giving him his child’s baseball, because he kind of figured Dallon had trusted Josh that much and that was important to him.

So instead, here he sat, rolling the ball between his fingers as Dallon sat down on his bed and stared at him curiously.

“Do you remember when you told me Brent was talking to you about turning humans into talents?”

“How could I forget that?” he refused to look Dallon in the eyes, solely because he thought he knew where this was heading.

“Uh, right. Did he, uhm, did he come to you because he had an offer? I'm just trying to figure out why he would randomly tell you all this information.”

“Well, he told me not to tell anyone. He showed me what would happen if I did.” Josh shrugged. “But he’s not here anymore, so.”

“He, uh, he used his powers on you?”

“Yep.” Josh popped the P, letting the ball fall into his lap as he adjusted his position. “I am not a fan.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to enjoy that. But you didn’t answer my question. Did he come to you with an offer? And don’t lie Joshua, because I will know if you are.”

He sighed in defeat. “Fine. Yes, he did come to me with an offer. He presented all this information, and it seemed legit, and he made me seem like I was important, so I--”

“Wait, are you telling me you actually accepted his offer?” Dallon’s eyes were wide when Josh looked up, and Josh blushed almost on the spot. He felt stupid now, but then? It seemed like the best offer in the universe.

“Isn’t that, uhm, isn’t that what you asked? If I accepted?”

“I asked if he had make an offer, not what your answer was.” Dallon dragged a hand down his face. “Oh Joshua, what did you get yourself into?”

“I don’t know. It just, it sounded like a good offer. I just, I wanted to be able to take care of Tyler, you know? I wanted to be strong enough to do that, and Brent said he could make that happen.”

“You honestly agreed to be their test subject? Something terrible could have happened! How could you have agreed to that? They are taking talents, they took _our_ people, and they are torturing them and hurting them to get what they want. They are kidnapping humans to perform these experiments on, people with families and homes and dreams and you honestly agreed to do without hesitation?”

“They said everything would be perfect, I didn’t realize they had started already, I didn’t know. Besides, you can’t be one to talk, you’re already a talent.”

Dallon sighed in frustration. “Listen to me Joshua, being this way does not make me any better than you. We are two different species, you can’t base your views upon that! To think you’d want to be a genetically modified, _thing_  is crazy!”

“I didn’t know Dallon, okay? I didn’t know. You can’t yell at me for something I didn’t know! I didn’t know he was double agent, I didn’t know he had a whole other clan, and I didn’t know he was a raving lunatic kidnapping people for his personal use. I didn’t know!”

“That doesn’t matter. You agreed to be turned into this monster, and you didn’t think about the consequences.”

“Yeah, well it doesn’t matter anymore because it’s not going to happen. I’ll just keep on being your little human scapegoat for the rest of my life.” Josh flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling as Dallon sighed again.

“I realize things are not good for you, but you need to stop being so bitter.”

“Seriously Dallon? Not good for me? Not only are things not good for me, they aren’t good for anyone. I’m never going to be good enough to match anyone here. I doubt you were even going to let me go out on the rescue mission. The whole training thing was just a facade, wasn’t it?”

Dallon didn’t answer.

“I knew it.” he folded his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Come on, don’t act like this.”

“I wish those thugs would have killed me. Then none of this would have happened.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being serious. I know everyone here is nice to me, and that’s really great. But I’m still different. I'm like a house cat living with a bunch of lions. It isn’t the same. It will never be the same. And now that Tyler and I don’t really have a future, I really don't want to be here. I don't want to have to deal with all the _pain_ of knowing we can never be together ever again. You guys all hide, and from what? I know you all think you’re freaks of nature, but it’s okay to go out and live life. Get a job, grab a drink, see a movie. Do human things, I don’t know.”

“You don’t have the right to be criticizing the way we live.”

“Maybe I don’t, but I am.” Josh pushed himself off his bed and looked Dallon in the eyes. “Thanks for trying to make me feel like I fit in, but I know I never will.” Then he forced a smile and went into the bathroom, slamming the door shut loudly behind him. Josh slumped to the floor and focused on nothing but his breathing. In and out, in and out.

Maybe he’d run away. He could probably get away with it. They wouldn’t notice he was even gone with everything that was going on. And he wasn’t really running away, but simply leaving. Josh was an adult who could make his own decisions. If they tried to get him to stop, then maybe they would kill him.

Josh would be okay with that.

He wouldn’t tell anyone where they were of course, Josh wasn’t that heartless. He wouldn’t come back ever again though. Josh would go to the bank and get out some money, and then he would go back to Ohio. Maybe he’d even go overseas, Josh didn’t know. He just wanted to be far, far, far away from this place. No one needed him here, and besides, he was just slowing everyone down and wasting time.

After Dallon left, Josh left the bathroom and dropped to his knees to pull out his duffle bag. Instead, he pulled out Tyler’s. It still had some of his clothes in it, and Josh pulled out a shirt. It wasn’t much, just a plain, black shirt, but it was soft, and it smelled like him. It was comforting.

Maybe he’d take that. Just as a souvenir, to remind him that once upon a time Josh had met someone that made him feel different. Josh shoved Tyler’s shirt deep down into his bag and went back to stuffing his own clothes into it.

Maybe he could get away with taking a car. He knew they’d be pissed, but Patrick could always get them a new one. So really, it wasn’t that bad of a crime.

When he finished packing, he shoved both bags back under his bed and sat down. Josh stared at his drumset.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to take that with him, and it broke his heart, but maybe it was for the best. A new life meant Josh Dun didn’t play the drums anymore. Someone else could put them to use. Spencer, maybe. He looked like he could use an outlet. Or maybe even Brendon. Although come to think of it, Brendon and drums probably was a bad idea.

When the best time presented itself, Josh would take it. He was getting out.

 

\---

 

Josh had just gotten out the shower, like hadn’t even put a towel around his waist gotten out of the shower, when there was a loud thud and a groan from his bedroom. Josh had left the bathroom door open to let steam out, so he could see the body of a person lying on the ground, and then it clicked, because  _holy fucking shit that’s Mikey!_

He pulled a towel tightly around his waist and knotted it with one hand as he rushed crouch next to a beaten and broken Mikey. He was filthy and covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. There was a thick black collar looking thing tightly around his neck with a blinking red light, and it seemed to really be hurting him. Josh pulled at it and Mikey winced.

“You, can you, please, get Dallon,” Mikey begged, voice breathy and barely there. Josh nodded, and quickly pulled on clothes, not even bothering to dry off. He took off down the hall still trying to put one foot into his basketball shorts.

Dallon looked up from a stack of papers when Josh burst in with a glare. Oh yeah, that’s right. They weren’t on very good terms right now.

“It’s Mikey,” Josh said while trying to catch his breath, “he’s here. In my room. He needs help. Now.”

Dallon nodded and followed Josh closely as they ran back down the hall to Josh’s room. Mikey was still on the floor, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to keep them open, his breathes ragged and shallow.

“Should we move him?” asked Josh as he pointed to his bed, but Dallon shook his head. He dropped to his knees and placed a palm to the side of Mikey's head as lightly as possible. Mikey sighed with relief, but he still looked awful. Nobody dared to speak until Mikey could breathe like a normal person.

“You want to move to the bed now?” Dallon was gentle, moving his hand to different bruises and cuts. Mikey had one giant cut on his upper arm, and it looked infected. Josh gulped.

“Yeah, that would be preferable.” he chuckled quietly, but it ended in a grimace. Then he pointed to his neck. “I gotta find a way to get this off, it’s uh, hurting me still.”

Dallon helped Mikey sit up and get onto Josh’s bed before he examined the collar. He gestured to Josh, and then demanded, “Go find Zack. I think he’s strong enough to get this off. He should be training with Jack and Rian at the moment.”

Josh nodded and once again started running down the hallway. Man, he really needed to gain some endurance.

When he reached the gym, he threw open the door with a large bang, causing everyone to look at him. Josh tried to casually lean against the doorframe, but his panting ruined it. “Sorry to interupt, but Mikey is, back, and, Dallon, needs Zack.” Lynn waved her hand to allow Zack to go and the two of them started back to Josh’s room.

“Is he okay?” Zack asked with worry, and Josh shrugged. He wasn’t quite sure himself.

Josh pushed open his door and Dallon waved Zack over. He pointed to the collar. “Can you get this off?”

Zack nodded. He placed a hand carefully around it as Mikey closed his eyes and braced for any sort of pain. With one swift yank, the collar came off in pieces in Zack’s hand. He squeezed his fist and let the pieces fall to the ground in a pile of almost dust. Mikey let out a noise of relief. “Thanks man. You have no idea how much better I feel.”

“You’re welcome. Glad to see you're back.” Zack grinned and turned to leave. Dallon continued trying to heal Mikey to the best of his abilities. Josh sat down at the end of his bed.

Mikey had his head resting back against the wall with his eyes squeezed shut, breathing quietly through his mouth. More colour seemed to come back to him as Dallon healed another bruise or cut. Josh felt terrible, because if Mikey looked like this, what did the others look like?

“What was the collar thing?” Josh finally said, only because his curiosity was eating away at him. Mikey exhaled loudly.

“They counteract our powers. If we tried to use them, they’d react against us. Like if I tried to teleport, it would shock me. Except they didn’t realize I could teleport on different frequencies and wavelengths. Idiots.” he winced as he tried to laugh again.

“Stop doing that,” Dallon stated firmly as he pressed down on another part of his body. Mikey moved his shoulders lazily.

“Sorry. But God, that place was awful. I’m pretty sure it used to be a prison. The amount of jail cells they had there, and the people, oh my God, there were so many people. Some of them could do some really freaky stuff, so you had to be careful. I could feel you picking around my brain Dallon, so I apologize it took me longer to get here. I just had to be careful they didn’t expect anything.”

“How are the others?” Josh asked. He started chewing on his lower lip.

“When we all got there, a few of us were unconscious. The others just had bags pulled over their heads. They put those collar things on us immediately. We were worthless against them. Then they randomly threw us in cells. I know Brendon was put at the end of the hall I was in. I don’t know where Gabe and Alex went. Patrick was across from me, and I’m pretty sure Joe was in the next hallway over. You think this place is confusing? Try that place.” he scoffed. “They barely fed us. Everyone was covered in dirt and blood, and they would come in sometimes just to heckle us. They had knives and tasers and other stupid stuff, and they would just torture the shit out of everyone. There was a guy in the cell next to me named Jon. He had a big mouth, and they treated him worse than anyone else. I watched them kill him.” Mikey shook his head slowly. “I can’t believe they could treat their own kind like that. They would come to use our blood and skin and hair and basically anything they could get DNA from. They weren’t nice about it either, and they certainly didn’t care for sanitation.”

“Did they have humans there too?” Dallon questioned, moving his position. Mikey lifted up a pant leg to reveal a wrapping around his ankle that was soaked with blood. Dallon undid the dressing and gently laid his hands on the wound. It was deep, and frankly, disgusting. Mikey hissed, his face going white. He didn’t talk until the pain had subsided.

“Yeah, on the other side of the building. They went through humans more than they did us. Sometimes they’d just kill talents for the fun of it. I saw a few get murdered right outside my cell. It was gruesome. I wanted to puke. And Patrick...” he trailed off. Dallon and Josh both knew he was about to say something horrible. “The collars didn’t work on Patrick, since his power just requires talking. And they, they fucking cut his tongue out. One solid slice, and he was screaming so loudly, and there was blood everywhere. I felt horrible for him. They took him out of the cell and led him down the hall, but I could still hear his screams. I could still see all the blood. I’m sure everyone in the building could. Screams weren’t abnormal, but Patrick’s, they were different.”

Josh raised a hand to cover his mouth. Oh God, poor Patrick. Not only that, but poor Pete. Everyone in that building must have been fucking miserable.

“What about the second time?” Dallon asked, his face stern. Josh stared at him in confusion.

“Second time?”

“Yeah. You weren’t with me.” Dallon shrugged. “Did you see what had happened the second time?”

Mikey nodded. “They kept taking Patrick out of his cell and leading him some place. And he’d come back covered in more blood and cuts and bruises, but of course he couldn’t say anything. His eyes were always glowing gold, and you could tell that he was furious. But he also looked so broken and so fucking weak, and never in all the time I’ve known him have I seem Patrick like that. It was horrible.” He sniffed, and Josh noticed he had started crying. It wasn’t a lot, but it seemed it might end that way. He had every excuse to cry; what he went through had to have been traumatizing.

“One time, the guy that led Patrick back, he took off his handcuffs and pushed him back in, but instead of leaving, he chained one of Patrick’s hands to one of the bars. He was saying all these horrible things to him, calling him names, insulting him, and Patrick was getting so upset, and he lunged for the guy. He managed to punch him in the face before the idiot called others in, and just like that, they cut off his entire hand with a fucking butcher knife. And Patrick was screaming all over again. And they just kept laughing. It was awful, so fucking awful. That guy doesn’t deserve anything he’s going through, I swear. So we need to hurry.”

_Oh, poor Patrick._

“I’ve been preparing everyone. We just need you to rest up so we can leave.”

“I memorized the way there and back. I took the long way so I could remember how to get there. But this isn’t your average rescue mission.”

“It’s war,” Dallon finished. He pushed himself up, trying to avoid getting blood on anything. “I’m calling a meeting to tell everyone.”

“The weekend,” Mikey suggested. “Friday night. That’s when we should do it.”

Josh wanted to point out that Tyler still wasn’t doing well, that maybe they should wait, but then he realized he was leaving anyways and there wasn’t really a point.

“That’s good,” agreed Dallon as he folded his arms across his chest, hands still angled to avoid staining. “We can see if everyone is ready.”

“So, are you like, in charge now?”

“Tyler is out of commission, Pete is having an emotional breakdown because of Patrick, which by the way, none of you are allowed to tell him what happened to Patrick. We need him to fuel all his anger into getting our people back, and letting everyone else trapped out.”

“He has every right to know what happened to his boyfriend,” Josh argued angrily, but Dallon only glared.

“Your opinion really doesn’t matter Joshua, and I’d advise you to stay out of our business. If you don’t want to be apart of it, you don’t need to worry about it.”

Josh narrowed his eyes, but eventually gave up and stormed out of his room. He’d leave tomorrow. He was done.

Josh didn’t need to go to this stupid meeting. Instead, he went downstairs to see Tyler and tell him how shitty of a leader Dallon was.

He was surprised to see Blurryface already standing at the door with sad eyes. He looked like he had been there for a while.

Blurry’s face seemed to light up when he noticed Josh. “Hey, it’s good to see you!”

“Uhm, okay...” That was weird. He actually sounded genuine and not his normal sarcastic self. “I just came to tell Tyler that Mikey came back and that they are planning on leaving Friday night to go get the others. They’ve had it pretty bad, especially Patrick.”

He raised an eyebrow. “If Mikey just escaped, they shouldn’t leave that early. The clan is going to be patrolling and looking for him. They need to wait until the excitement goes down.”

“Wow, that is actually a really good point.” Josh tilted his head curiously at him. “Is something wrong with you?”

He let out a sigh in a rush of breath. “I think so. I’m going crazy. I’m having these weird feelings, and Tyler, he’s just being so rude, and--”

Josh interrupted with loud laughter. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you realized what you just said. Tyler, being rude? You, having feelings? Is it opposite day?”

“I’ve been in control too long,” he said with wide eyes. “Last week I jerked off thinking of you. Me. Not Tyler. Me.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“Tyler gave up. You need to say something to him. I don’t like feeling this way. I don’t like feeling vulnerable and having all these, these  _feelings_! I’m questioning everything. He said he’d let me do whatever! Josh, you gotta help me!”

“Uhm, well, Tyler, things are gonna be okay, and I know you’re tough enough to get back in control. I think at this point he might actually let you.” BF nodded. “You know, this is weird, seeing you like this. I don’t know. It’s weird.”

“Shut up Josh,” he grumbled, turning away from the door.

“Have you even once wanted to hurt Tyler this week?”

That got him to come back. “No! Because I care that it’ll hurt him! What is wrong with me?”

Josh smirked. “You’re working towards a common goal.”

He groaned and smacked a hand on his forehead. “But we aren’t!”

“That’s what you think. I’ll come visit tomorrow. As for tonight, uh, have fun jerking off. I’m going to go tell Dallon what you said.”

“Shut up Josh!” He yelled as Josh disappeared up the stairs.

He didn’t like this one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like you to know that after writing all those horrible things that happened to Patrick, my conscience is no longer clear.


	14. 014

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, so this is the shortest chapter I've written but it leads nicely into the next set of events so just be patient.

Dallon wasn't happy that Josh has interrupted his meeting, but the group agreed that Josh did have a really good point. And he wasn't about to tell them that it hadn't even been his idea in the first place.

"Oh, and you might want to look into some form of communication, because you're going to need it," he also added, earning him another death glare from Dallon. But Dallon knew Josh was right. He sent Mikey and Gerard (after a touching family reunion) to go look into it.

After the meeting was finished, Josh went straight back to his room. He decided he was going to leave early in the morning, right before the sun came up. Not only would it give him plenty of time to get to the garage, but nobody would suspect a thing.

He could hear people discussing plans outside his room about when they were leaving. "A couple weeks" was what he heard, which was perfect. That gave people plenty of time to forget Josh was ever there and focus on more important things. He just wished he could say goodbye to Tyler. Josh had said he'd come say goodbye, so maybe, just maybe, Tyler might be normal. He just wanted to see him smile, to watch his dark eyes crinkle, because that was the most beautiful thing Josh swore he had ever seen in his life.

Although Tyler might not be smiling for a while.

Josh went back downstairs.

Blurry was still standing longingly at the door, his fingertips trailing gently across the window. Josh bit his lip when he noticed all the fleshy red marks that covered Tyler's wrists. He hoped those weren't too new. He just wanted to make sure Tyler was okay.

"Back so soon?" Blurry asked when he noticed Josh staring at him. Josh shrugged.

"You gotta help Tyler get back in control. Please, I'm begging you. I have to talk to him." Josh hated how whiny he sounded, but he knew this was his last resort.

Blurry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Trust me Josh, I have been giving him every full opportunity to take back over, but he's not trying. He's just sitting there, staring with these dead eyes and making sarcastic comments. That's my job!"

"Come on Tyler," Josh whispered as he banged a fist on the door and rested his forehead against it. He closed his eyes. "I need to see you. Please."

"I'll see where I can get him by the end of the night," Blurry promised, causing Josh to look up.

"Okay. Yeah. That sounds good."

"You should put a hat on Josh. You look hot when you wear one." He smirked, causing Josh to roll his eyes and sigh heavily.

"See you later." Then Josh went back upstairs. He was first going to put on a hat, not because it had been suggested, but because he wanted to, and second, going to play drums until his knuckles bled. Because that might be the last time he got to do that.

 

\---

 

Tyler was raging war with himself.

It was strange, really. Blurry was basically begging him to take control, but Tyler simply didn't care. He was okay with waiting around, making comments and not caring. But it was starting to worry him, because Josh had come to ask to talk to him and Tyler found himself thinking things he never in a million years would think about.

_Let me fuck Josh, and then let his blood drain onto the tile._

_Let me torture him with knives and words and then kill him with one simple touch._

_Let me laugh at him while he goes on and on about missing me._

Tyler wasn't supposed to be thinking these things. He loved Josh. He would never hurt Josh. So why did he suddenly have the urge to just hurt him? This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.

“He wants to talk to you really badly,” Blurry said quietly, but it was out loud again and Tyler only rolled his eyes.

_That doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk to him._

“But why not?”

_Because there is no need. Our relationship is over and done with and I’m afraid I’ll hurt him._

BF’s eyes widened and he stared at his hands. They weren’t covered in paint and hadn’t been in a while (unlike Tyler, he really didn’t care how his hands looked). “Are you telling me you’re having urges to hurt him?”

Tyler didn’t answer.

“No no no, this is not good. This is really not good. We can’t, you can’t tell me... Tyler, you have to take back over. Things have to go back to normal. You can’t hurt him, can’t kill him, that’s what I am supposed to be doing, not you! You’re supposed to be the good one! You’re supposed to be Jekyll, not Hyde! I’m Hyde. I’ve always been Hyde.”

_People change._

“People don’t change!” he was starting to get upset and Tyler was grinning. He never knew how much fun it was to terrorize someone. He was enjoying this. “Listen to me, you are becoming your demons and I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that.”

 _Better put me in the insane asylum then, because I’m hearing voices..._ he sang the last part and then Tyler found himself giggling like a group of middle school girls. Blurry was getting more and more frustrated by the second. If this is what he was like to deal with, well, then he was going to have to make some changes.

“Come on Ty. I’m begging you.”

_Wonder what I could say to get them to accept me. It wouldn’t be hard, I’m sure. I have a split personality and I want to kill people all the time. Sometimes my eyes turn red but don’t worry about that because it’s not really me, it’s just Blurryface. Who’s Blurryface? I don’t know, but he wants me dead. But recently he doesn’t seem to want me dead. He wants me alive. But I want to be dead. But it’s okay, because I can’t die. I just kill everyone to satisfy that feeling. I can also bring stuff back to life. It’s quite extraordinary._

Blurry was racking his brain, trying to figure out what he could say to stop Tyler from going crazy, to try and convince him to let things go back to normal, but he couldn’t find the words. In fact, most of the thoughts swirling around his brain weren’t even his. They were Tyler’s.

_Chaos and Order are opposites are they not? I used to be all about order. Now, oh boy, now, I just want chaos._

“Tyler, please.”

_Imagine a world in chaos. Everyone, screaming. For mercy._

“Tyler.”

_The human race can’t evolve without change._

“Not even I was this crazy.”

_Everyone is a puppet, tangled within a master plan. But who created that master plan? Certainly not a God. If there was a God, would he let all of this take place? No. But I could be the God. A powerful one at that._

“You have to stop. You can’t do this.” Blurryface was gripping the desk tightly, his knuckles turning white and his eyes wide with fear. Tyler was trying to take control, _finally_ , but it wasn’t what he wanted. Psycho Tyler did not need to be in charge.

_I could show you something beautiful._

“No.”

_With you out of the picture, I’m free. There are no strings on me._

“Stop.”

_Josh is going to let me out when he sees my eyes you know. He won’t suspect anything. Not anything at all. I can get out, and kill him on the spot. Then I’ll kill everyone in the building._

He gasped as Tyler kicked him hard. A hand went around his throat, but it wasn’t him that was controlling the body. Not anymore.

Blurry continued to put up a fight, but in the end, it did nothing.

Tyler began laughing psychotically, a large maleficent grin spreading across his face. Every trace of red was starting to fade away from his eyes, leaving nothing but black holes. He adjusted his shirt collar and sat down in the desk chair, kicking his feet onto the desk.

“For years you’ve tried to convince me to come to the dark side, and look! You won!”

_You can’t do this. You can’t destroy these people’s lives. You can’t play God._

“I can do whatever I want, because I’m in charge!” He continued to laugh loudly, his pupils dilated as he tossed his hands into the air triumphantly. He spun around in the chair a few times, his laughter still going strong.

_Think about what you’re doing._

“Oh, I have. And now I’m going to destroy it.” Tyler’s face was dark, and anyone who would have seen him would have turned right around and ran away. His voice got deep and crackly as he began to sing off tune.

“I’m a goner, somebody catch my breath...”

_You’re not gone Tyler, please, there’s still time for us to fix this! Common goal, remember?_

“It’s really not nice to INTERRUPT people,” his voice shifted octaves and tones while his breath was still filled with giggles. Maybe he was too far gone.

Tyler went back to singing.

“I’ve got two faces, Blurry’s the one I’m not...”

_TYLER!_

“I need your help to take him out...”

_You HAVE TO STOP!_

He was grinning, whistling, laughing, spinning, and mumbling, just like an insane asylum patient. And Blurry, he knew it was no use.

Tyler had become his demons.

 

\---

 

Josh hadn’t left his room all day. He was preparing.

He had to make sure he had everything he needed, because he wasn’t coming back anytime soon. And leaving something behind that was important would be awkward and just plain awful.

And he did play drums for a long ass time, his knuckles did bleed, and he spent fifteen minutes grinning in the bathroom mirror as he ran his hands under water. He was going to miss that a lot. The drumsticks went in his bag after that.

He’d dye his hair a different colour when he got out, start a whole new identity. Once he left, Joshua Dun was dead, and had been dead for months, killed by thugs the night all this shit happened.

Josh would miss some people here, that was no lie. He’d miss Patrick and his optimistic attitude, Pete with his scowls, Brendon with his shits and giggles. He’d miss Dallon and Tyler and everyone else. But Josh never should have became friends with the popular table. Things were different and Josh had always been the odd one out.

A little past midnight, Josh woke up to a loud beeping noise in his room. He rolled over with a groan and shoved his pillow over his head. He had been trying to get at least a little bit of sleep before he had to leave, but apparently the world hated him.

“Josh?”

 _Holy shit, that’s Tyler!_ Josh sat up right away and almost fell off the bed. He slipped into clothes and slung his bag over his shoulder. He could leave early; it might be better actually. He just needed to make sure no one saw him.

“Tyler? Is that you?”

“Yeah! Blurry's gone now. It’s all me now.” he ended his sentence with a high pitched giggle and Josh raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question it. Tyler had been far gone for a long time, so it must have been weird for him trying to adapt and get used to all the changes of having control over his body once more.

“Can I come see you?”

Tyler giggled again. “I would love nothing more, Joshua!” the intercom clicked off, leaving Josh in silence. He took a deep breath. That was weird. Tyler was acting weird. Unless he was going crazy.

_Am I going crazy?_

Nah, Josh was sane. He was going back to live with humans and then he would be pretty damn sane, even more sane than before. He would be perfectly fine.

Tyler was leaning against the door with a smirk when Josh reached the bottom of the stairs. It was a little hard to see Tyler’s face, considering all the lights were turned off in his room, but Josh couldn’t see any red and he deemed that a good thing.

“I missed you,” he said, fingernails tapping on the doorframe. His hands were still bare, not even a single trace of black paint anywhere on them. Funny, that’s the first thing Josh would have guessed Tyler would fix.

“I missed you too,” Josh responded, ending it with a sigh. “I just want to thank you for saving me. You know, bringing me back from the dead. I know that must have been really hard, so thanks. And I know the situation isn’t pleasant, but I hope we can still stay friends.”

“Well of course we can stay friends! Now open the door, I’ve been locked in here way too long and I want some non Blurryface touched air.” Josh nodded and went to open the lock after he shrugged his duffel to the floor. Tyler grinned when he could push the door open to come into the hallway.

_Stop._

Josh winced and raised a hand to his head. That hadn’t been his voice. Who was in his head?

Was Josh really going crazy?

“Oh thank you Josh, this is so nice. Truly.” his smile was starting to freak Josh out. He felt uneasy. Something really wasn’t right.

Josh went into Tyler’s room despite Tyler’s protests to go upstairs, and did a quick scan. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The record player was extremely crackly today, like the vinyl hadn’t been placed on correctly. There were fresh tally marks on the wall, a little bit of writing, and...

 _He wants me dead_ smeared on the wall in blood. Josh’s eyes widened as he began to back away slowly. Tyler’s laughter caused him to whip back around.

Sure enough, there was a heavy cut in Tyler’s left arm, blood still weaving a river down his arm.

_Get out._

That same voice was back in his head and Josh decided it’d be best to heed their warning, whoever it was. Tyler was not Tyler.

Maybe it was BF? It made sense. Ty and Josh did have some weird telepathic communication and BF would be included in that. Maybe.

“Where you going Joshie? I thought you missed me!” He threw back his head in another round of psychotic laughter, and Josh was in a sudden panic to get out.

“You’re not yourself Tyler, you got to find yourself somewhere back in there.”

“But this is the true me Josh! Ten years of trying to push away Blurryface, struggling to get him to leave me alone, and now, _now,_ I can do whatever I want, because I am finally free. I’ve got no strings on me. You think someone who hears voices in their head 24/7 is going to be sane? Of course not! I’m as insane as they get! My whole life sucked! Everything sucked! But you know what the best part of all of this _shit_  was?”

Josh didn’t want to know.

“Pretending I was in love with you. Please. As if I would be in love with a human. You’re pathetic. Replaceable. Not important. Stupid. Worthless. Trash. I never loved you, and I never will!” Tyler sneered, and then went back to laughing. He ran a hand through his hair, smearing blood all over him along the way. Josh felt a lump start to lodge in his throat. Tyler couldn’t be serious. This couldn’t be Tyler. Of course not. Tyler was kind, gentle, lovely, perfect...

Not a maniac.

“I know what you’re thinking Joshie. ‘This can’t possibly be Tyler! No! But it is. I am Tyler. I am going to destroy and kill everything and everyone on this planet, and I’m going to laugh as I do it. I’m a butcher with a smile, cutting everyone farther. Nothing is more fun than carving a smile on someone’s face. And all those people Blurry’s killed? That was just the beginning. I loved watching him murder. Watching those people bleed. Feeling blood on my hands and face and in my hair. Bathing in the stuff. And I’m going to love killing you the most.” He lunged for Josh with a knife Josh didn’t realize he had and managed to nick his arm before Josh got away. Tyler was still laughing, laughing so loudly, so evilly, that it was embedding itself in every inch of Josh’s head, amplifying the horrible sound. Tyler made another jab for him, this time with a hand, trying to touch his skin so he would die instantly. Josh should have listened. He never should have opened the door. He never should have believed Tyler was sane, that Tyler was okay after being locked inside his own body over a month of time.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be!” he yelled, making another move with his knife. Josh took off running towards the door. Tyler followed suit, but Josh managed to slam the door in his face and lock it with trembling fingers. His arm was bleeding pretty badly, but it must have been all the adrenaline coursing through him that helped eliminate the pain. He’d fix that later.

Tyler was banging on the door, leaving bloody handprints on the window and smearing blood all over his face. He dragged a finger across his throat, leaving a ruby red line, and then the same on his face to present a permanent smile.

“You’re dead Josh! Dead! I’m going to kill you!” he was still giggling, but Josh knew he was serious. “I’m going to kill everyone here!”

Josh was struggling to catch his breath, one hand laid against the wall. Tyler was gone. He was gone, and it was all Josh’s fault. Tyler’s life was ruined because of Josh.

“I’m so sorry,” Josh’s voice was barely a whisper, and he could feel tears starting to make their way down his face. He couldn’t even look at Tyler.

Only slung his bag over his shoulder and headed up the stairs, Tyler still giggling like a maniac behind him.

 

\---

 

He had been running for a while now.

Josh didn’t bother to clean up his wound. He was too focused on getting out. Especially after Tyler. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, but Tyler was far gone and it was all his fault.

Tyler was right. Josh should have been killed.

He had thought about suicide a lot in his life. Nobody really seemed to want him around, not even himself. But for some reason, he did stick around, and now that left him here.

Running away from a building of people with superpowers.

It was very dark outside, and Josh had tripped plenty of times already, but he kept going. Once the others noticed he was gone, if they even did, he wanted to be far gone. He had been looking for the door that led to the garage for a while now and hadn’t had much luck. Maybe he had gone past it?

Had he really been running for a mile?

That didn’t seem right. He just needed to be on high alert and keep a look out. He couldn’t stop.

Josh kept moving.

Once he found the garage, he could hot wire a car and get out quickly. Then he’d think of a better, well thought out plan after that. That was good. See, Josh could prioritize his time right, even in times of panic.

But instead of thinking, he really should have been paying attention to the giant tree root sticking out of the ground, because he went flying, ending his fall with a terrible crash that sent pain in waves throughout his body. His bag had ended somewhere behind him, and his hat somewhere in front of him. He never had been athletic.

Josh was an idiot.

He laid there for a few seconds, groaning and complaining, before a stick cracked and he was brought back to his senses. He sat up to see a tall guy offering him his hat, an unsettling smile plastered across his face. Josh forgot how to breathe.

The man tossed the hat into the bushes. “Little funny we found you out here! We were heading back to your place to bring you to the boss, but this makes things so much easier. Now what was your name? Started with a J, didn’t it?”

“It’s Josh, you fucking idiot,” Another guy stepped out of the woods, one that was shorter and a lot less loud. He punched the tall guy in the shoulder. “Keep it down for God’s sake, everyone within a ten mile radius can hear you shouting.”

Josh looked up at them in fear. How did they know who he was? How did they-

“We were sent by Brent Wilson, I assume you know him? Boss said you agreed to take part in his little project, and we were sent to fetch you.” the shorter guy grinned before adding, “I can read minds by the way, so nothing is gonna be a secret from me.”

“We are taking you back to our clan, so don’t try and run away or nothin’, because you won’t get very far. Stand up.”

Josh continued staring, his voice caught in his throat. He was doomed. He had tried to leave one prison only to be brought into another.

“It’s not really a prison, but a laboratory. We are men of science,” Short guy assured, but it didn’t make Josh feel any better. He reached over and pulled Josh up from the ground in one swift pull while the taller guy pulled a set of handcuffs from his pocket and clicked them tightly around Josh’s wrists. He winced.

“Brent’s going to treat you just nicely, just like your arrangement. We just have to make sure you don’t know where we are going is all.” Shorter guy explained as he gestured towards the tall guy. Suddenly Josh couldn’t see, and he felt more panic bubble in his chest.

“Temporary blindness,” the tall guy said. Josh pictured him to be beaming. “Only works in short bursts but we aren’t too far away.”

“Start walking.” Josh got shoved and he stumbled forward, almost losing his balance. He felt someone grab his shoulder tightly.

This was bad.

This was very, _very_ bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank The Joker and Ultron for ultimately being my inspirations for psycho Tyler. 
> 
> And those two guys at the end? Idk who they are supposed to be so picture someone for me.


	15. 015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are happening.
> 
> There's mentions of self harm and suicide in this chapter, just a warning.

They walked for a while.

Or, at least, it felt like a while. That might have been because Josh was scared out of his mind and the two men conversed the entire way there, talking about the failed humans or talents they had to kill, which only upped his anxiety. Sometimes they tried to talk to Josh, but Josh could never answer because he was shaking with fear and the minute he opened his mouth he knew he was going to lose it.

“God, are you a fuckin’ mute or what? Haven’t said a damn word since we started movin’,” Tall guy exclaimed loudly. He had some kind of southern twang going on, which was weird considering they weren’t anywhere near the south. Shorter guy huffed loudly, and it sounded like he might have punched his partner.

“Of all people, I have to be paired with the most idiotic person in the group.” with all the huffing he was doing, Josh figured he was probably rolling his eyes. It was really annoying not being able to see anything. He was thankful he wasn’t blind all the time.

“Oh shut up, I ain’t even that stupid. You’re the dumb one.”

“I’m the dumb one? As if. That’s why I was sent out here to go find the human. You just had to tag along in case of trouble.”

“Whatever. Shut up.”

Shorter guy huffed again. “We’re almost there Dun. Just a few more feet and you’ll be inside.”

That wasn’t satisfying to Josh at all.

Sure enough, soon Josh was being shoved harshly against a cool brick wall and the click of a lock echoed in his ear. After a few seconds of rapid beeping, Josh was shoved inside the building to welcome the cool flow of air on his face. The door closed loudly behind him, booming throughout the hallways. They continued walking. He could hear people screaming, groaning, yelling, and it sent chills through his body. That was the horrific sound of torture, he realized, something that was soon to be upon him. Not only that, but it could be Brendon, or Patrick, or Joe or Gabe or Alex and he would never know.

Josh really wished he could see. They kept shoving him harshly, which would cause him to stumble and trip over his own feet. They were making him look like an idiot. Which he was, but they didn’t need to know that. He shouldn’t have left, he should have waited or at least thought things through. Why hadn’t he made a plan before hand? Stupid, just plain stupid.

Josh swore that if he got out of here alive, he would never procrastinate ever again.

A hand pressed into his back and pushed him up against another wall as more beeping came from what was most likely a keypad. The door clicked and made a _whoosh_ as it was pulled open, Josh being pushed inside. The door shut and Josh could finally see again. He blinked a couple of times, trying to get the cloudy black spots out of his vision, and looked around the room.

It looked like something out of _Frankenstein._  What looked like a hundred different chemicals and tools lined shelves on both sides. Low lighting casted eerie shadows that bounced off the walls and a metal table in the middle of the room, complete with shackles and other restraints. Josh gulped.

This was bad. This was so very bad.

“It’s not that bad,” the shorter guy laid a hand on Josh’s shoulder. Oh right, he could read Josh’s mind. Fantastic. “That’s just so you don’t thrash around and hurt yourself if you get spooked or somethin'. It’s okay.”

“Mr. Wilson is gonna be here anytime now, so we gotta get you onto this table and shit. Don’t fight us, we don’t wanna hurt you.” Tall guy pulled his shirt up to reveal a taser in his belt and grinned snarkily. Shorter guy rolled his eyes. He undid Josh’s handcuffs and maneuvered him over to the table. Josh rubbed his wrists as he stared at the deathtrap in front of him. He was going to be strapped to that and turned into some sort of monster and he wasn’t looking forward to it at all. Why did he agree to help Brent? Why did he do that? It was so stupid. Dallon had been right.

Josh wished he could apologize.

“Get up there,” Shorter guy demanded without looking up from his fingernails. He pulled out a pocket knife and began using it to clean the dirt out from underneath. Josh was frozen. He couldn’t move, didn’t want to move, because he knew what was coming and he was terrified beyond all belief.

“I would listen to him if I were you boy,” Tall guy suggested. Josh nodded and finally willed himself to climb up. Shorter guy put his knife away and shackled Josh’s wrists and ankles while Tall guy put the leather restraints over his midsection. Josh swallowed his need to cry. God, he was terrified.

Shorter guy dusted off his hands once he finished. “Boss is gonna be here soon, just like we said. As for now, just enjoy your stay.” He flashed a wicked smile, and then the two of them left, leaving Josh more scared than he had ever been in his entire life.

Josh was going to die. He was going to die and he couldn’t do anything about it. Brent was going to turn him into a monster and then no one would ever want to talk to him ever again. If he went back to visit Dallon or anyone there they would only laugh at him, call him a freak, tell him he was unnatural and a waste of space. Tyler would probably still try and kill him. It didn’t matter. Maybe he wouldn’t even struggle. There wouldn’t be a point.

Josh felt like he was in that room for hours. A couple times he nodded off, only to be awaken to the crushing cruel, harsh reality that he was really going to be experimented on. His arms were starting to become numb from being held above his head.

He could hear screaming coming from outside the room. He wondered how far away the others were. If he somehow magically managed to get out, Josh would go find and rescue them. He’d bring them back home, and then he’d be a hero. But no way would he stick around. He’d leave right after that. Those people didn’t need him.

But maybe he needed them.

Josh shook his head. That was ridiculous. He had managed just fine without them, and he would manage this right here just fine without them. Maybe there was still hope.

But Josh wasn’t sure. For the first time, his optimistic demeanor was cracking.

The door creaked open and brought Josh away from his thoughts. He tried to pick his head up to look, and while it was very uncomfortable, he managed to watch Brent come in. He was wearing a white lab coat and black gloves, grinning ear to ear. Josh also noticed he had blood on the bottom part of his coat. Not good.

“Ah, Josh! It’s so great to see you again. Sorry for making you wait, I had other business to attend to.” He winked. “Now you probably have a lot of questions, and I assure you I will answer all of them. After I’m done, if you still have any more remaining, feel free to ask!” He clasped his hands together and walked to the back of the room where he opened up a cabinet. Josh couldn’t see what he was doing, but he heard a lot of clanging and it made him even more nervous, if possible.

Brent came over to Josh and began constructing what looked to be an IV. It was hooked up to a monitor.

“I’m putting an IV in you to regulate your body temperature and keep you feeling okay. This will also measure your heartbeat in case something goes wrong and we need to fix it.” Brent slipped a needle into the top of one of Josh’s hands, causing him to hiss in pain. Josh never had liked needles.

Brent paused to look at the cut Tyler had made on Josh’s arm. Josh had forgotten that was even there; he was so hyped on adrenaline.

“What happened here?”

“Nothing,” Josh mumbled. Brent clucked his tongue.

“Okay, moving on. First things first. I’m the leader of this clan, quite similar to your little fuck buddy over at your place.” He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I’m sorry about lying to you, but I had to get in to see what talents we could use for our progress, and boy, did you guys sure have some good ones!”

“You’re hurting them,” Josh argued, his voice coming out raw. He mentally cursed. “You can’t do that to your own kind.”

“It’s for science, and their sacrifices won’t be in vain. We have tested so many humans, have had so many results, and some of them have churned out very wonderful results. However, only parts have been successful. It's very difficult for my subjects to get through multiple rounds before they kick the bucket." He sighed. "But you Joshie, you will be fully successful. I’ve had my people get a reading on you, I’ve studied the way you act and move and Josh, you are the perfect candidate for this project. Not only are you mentally ready, but your fit and strong. You will be the first genetically modified talent, perfect and unstoppable in every way possible. You’ll be a weapon, a God.”

“I don’t want to be a weapon, and I certainly don’t want the responsibility of a God. Please, you can’t do this to me.”

“But you already agreed to do it! And you sounded so happy about it too!” Brent paused, his smile slowly turning into a frown. He raised a hand to his chin. “I was informed we killed you during the break in... I am so sorry about that. Good thing your precious leader was there to do us a favor. I really appreciate his help.”

“You’re an asshole.” Josh wasn’t sure where he was getting all this confidence from.

“I’m really not, I’m just smart. Now look, I said we could do things your way, but since you seem like you no longer want to cooperate anymore, I’m just going to take one for the team and do everything myself. Sound like a plan?”

“You can’t do this to me!” Josh growled, which quickly turned into him shouting. He yanked on his restraints, pulled as hard as he could to try and get loose, but it was no use. Josh was stuck.

“I can do whatever I want with you. I own you now, and I’m going to make you into the perfect soldier. You’ll protect our base, You’ll do exactly what I say, and then we can make more just like you. Soon the entire human race will be just like us, and we will live on a much better planet. Now, where should we start?” Brent's grin only grew as he grabbed a notebook and pen and flipped open to a clean page. He leaned against the countertop.

Josh continued struggling, even though he knew it was no use. He wasn't going down without a fight.

“Of course we will start with the obvious, enhanced hearing and eyesight. Those are the basics, we have mastered those formulas. Next, I’m thinking strength and speed, to take those pesky enemies out. We probably need to eliminate feelings... don’t want those getting in the way of your responsibilities. Emotions really always have been petty in my case. They aren’t needed. We will need to make sure you look the part... probably something a little more imitating, like eye colour. But depending on what side effects we get from our formula, I guess we will see how that turns out. Do you have any suggestions?”

“You aren’t gonna get away with this,” Josh spat out, still trying to pull free, “The others are going to stop you.”

“Such an optimistic Josh, we are going to have to get rid of that. Anyways, I guess I’ll go through DNA’s later and we can figure out which one suits you most.” Brent tore off the page and pinned it on the wall. He scribbled the date and time on it.

05:38, 14 October.

 _No way._ Had it really been that long since Josh had seen a calendar? He couldn’t believe it. That meant he was now 27, that he had missed his birthday and pretty much misplaced eight months of his life. That was crazy. No, even worse than that. Insane.

“Alright, so I’m going to do your eyesight and hearing first and come back in a few hours for strength. I’ll put something in your IV to help you sleep.” Brent picked up a clipboard from the counter. He scribbled a couple of things and marked others. Then he was pulling a clear liquid from one of the cabinets and mixing it with a red one sitting at the back of the counter. He put both into a syringe. As he moved closer, Josh tried his hardest to distance himself.

Brent placed the needle into Josh’s neck, using one hand to grip his hair tightly. The minute the liquid entered Josh’s bloodstream, it felt like his entire body had been doused in gasoline and set ablaze. He tried his hardest not to yell out in pain.

Brent went back over to the counter to once again mix a bunch of toxic liquids together. Then he placed that syringe in the same place as before. This time, Josh couldn’t help but to let out a angry pain filled scream. Brent rolled his eyes.

“Calm down, I’m putting something in your IV drip right now, you big baby.” Josh had had his eyes squeezed shut and his fists clenched so tightly he was sure he might explode. He didn’t like pain, never had dealt very well with pain, and this pain was probably the worst he had ever felt. Brent sighed impatiently and tapped on Josh’s shoulder.

When Josh opened his eyes, the room was blurry. He couldn’t see anything clearly, like his vision was slowly deteriorating.

“See you later, Joshie.” Brent waved, that evil grin still on his face. He disappeared through the door as Josh’s eyelids drooped shut.

 

\---

 

“Joshua, can you hear me?” Brent’s voice pounded in his skull, but Josh didn’t want to open his eyes. His whole body was drunk with sedatives and sleep. He groaned with response.

“Holy shit, that acted fast. I knew you were perfect for this experiment.” Brent began laughing happily, and Josh’s eyes shot open.

He was the only person in the room.

“Josh, I am currently standing clear on the other side of the building, and you can hear what I’m saying. This is incredible. No one has been able to reach this length yet.”

Josh squeezed his eyes shut again with another groan. And suddenly, he could hear everything.

People screaming everywhere, groaning, mumbling, crying, speaking. He could hear heartbeats, insects, the goddamn wind, _everything._

It was overwhelming.

Josh wanted to be the exact opposite of overwhelmed. This was too much. He didn’t want to be able to hear everything, didn’t want it to be pounding against his skull.

Guess this meant he was technically not human anymore.

Which was terrifying.

"I don't like it," he grumbled, trying to roll over, but he forgot he couldn't really do that because he was chained to the table.

"This is normal for regular talents, which is why it's really impressive for you to be able to hear me. I'm coming back now."

"Make it stop!"

"You have to think about it. Focus on the one room."

Josh squeezed his eyes and furrowed his brow tightly, as if that would help him focus. _Just one room,_ he kept telling himself, _just the sounds in one room._ And maybe he would have got it if Brent hadn't walked in and messed everything up.

Josh wanted to scream.

"I know it's a little chaotic at first, but you'll get used to it, I promise. Now open your eyes, I want to see how they turned out." Josh didn't open his eyes. He was too busy dealing with all the sounds making home in his skull to focus on opening his eyes. Brent's voice was so loud in his head, and even though it had been at an inside volume, it sounded like he was screaming once it passed through his eardrums. Every noise going on in the room seemed to be amplified by a thousand times and it was just too much. How was he expected to get used to this? Is this what every talent heard every waking day of their life since birth? And it might have been a little worse for Josh, considering there was so much screaming going on, but his question still stood ground. This was awful. He didn't know how they could do it.

"Josh, I'm not going to ask again. You need to do what I say so things run smoothly. Now open your eyes."

He took a deep breath and did as Brent asked.

And woah.

It was almost like he was watching an HD movie. Everything was so sharp and clear, clear enough that he could even see the small lettering on a prescription bottle on the other side of the room. The light seemed to be glittering, the dust on the shelves dark and dreary. Josh's eyesight never had been terrible, but this is what he imagined people who got glasses for the first time felt. It was incredible.

Brent let out a small gasp and his eyes widened. Josh raised an eyebrow. Brent in HD was nothing pretty.

He wondered what Tyler in HD looked like.

"Well, uh, that's new."

"What?" Josh was concerned to why Brent seemed worried. What had happened?

"Your uhm, well, the formula reacts differently with each person, and uh, well, your eyes are purple."

"What?" How could his eyes go from brown to purple? What did purple eyes even look like? "You gotta show me."

Brent shook his head. "We are going to fix that. We can at least make them a dark purple, like an almost black? I think that would work. And God, we have to do something about your hair. It looks awful."

Josh only glared.

"Anyways, now that phase one is complete, we can go into phase two. You feeling strength or speed next?"

"How about neither?"

Brent let out a sigh and ran a hand threw his hair. "Maybe I'll cut out your tongue. You really don't need to speak to be a soldier."

Josh didn't say anything. He only looked up at the ceiling.

He could hear Brent moving things around, glass clinking and liquids sloshing and it made him even more nervous. The experiments weren't going to stop, he knew that.

Then his attention got directed somewhere else.

"...Spencer, I miss him a lot." He caught the tailend of a conversation, but it sounded like Brendon. And if he could hear Brendon, that meant he had to be somewhat close.

“You have to take me to Brendon,” Josh demanded. “If you are planning on using me as your labrat, please at least do this one thing for me. I mean, you guys were kind of friends, and you betrayed him, so you at least owe this to him.”

“Brendon is a strong little dude, I can give you that. We’ve used his DNA for several experiments. And his powers, God, they are extraordinary.”

“I didn’t ask for a history lesson, I asked you to take me to him.” Brent’s face flushed with anger when he whipped back over to confront Josh’s attitude. He jammed a needle in Josh’s arm, and shoved two tiny white tablets down his throat. Josh couldn’t breathe, in fact he was practically choking on these pills as Brent forced them down his throat. He offered him water after Josh finally managed to breath again, but Josh only glared with watery eyes.

“You hurt my friends,” he sneered, trying to pull on his restraints once more, “You cut out my friend’s tongue, you chopped off his hand, you leave them bruised and bloody and hurt and for what cause? Science? This is stupid! You can’t change one species into another!”

“We’ve been doing this for years Josh, _years._ We are fully capable of this. We’ve had good results and bad results, and we can learn and adapt. If the human race can create new species, we can do this. It’s Jurassic Park minus everyone getting killed by dinosaurs.”

“Everyone is just getting killed by you instead.”

Brent grinned. He leaned over his brush his fingers across Josh’s cheek. “You’re getting the best treatment in the house Joshie, don’t let it go to waste. Everything we’ve done here has led up to you. You’re the final result, and if we are successful, then none of this would have gone to waste. And I know we will be successful.”

“I hope you rot in hell!”

Brent leaned farther in so he could whisper in Josh’s ear. “I think you are forgetting I can put you there.” He smiled again and stood up straight. “Anyways, I’ll have Chrissy come check on you in a little while. She’ll bring food. Maybe we can visit Mr. Urie tomorrow.” He winked. “You’ll be in a lot of pain with this next phase, but I think maybe this will be a lesson for you to learn. I’m your boss now Josh, I own you. You have to obey me. Anyways, I will see you later.”

At the mention of pain, Josh felt his muscles starting to tense up. They felt like they were stretching under his skin, and it did not feel good.

It was going to be a long day.

 ---

 

There were a million voices feeding thoughts into Tyler’s head. It was one big massive swirl of reds and oranges and greens and yellows, do this, don’t do this, do this instead. Blurry didn’t talk to him anymore. This was strictly him.

There was a part of him that was still him, sitting quietly in the shadows. He was lost among his own head, the bigger, louder voices overpowering his quiet one. He was hiding from them, because they were muttering and yelling and laughing and it was too much. They’d approach him with knives and bullets and insults and peer pressure, and it was overwhelming. So he resorted to hiding in the shadows. Tyler knew he probably should attempt to do something, but it was difficult. How was he supposed to have self control over different parts of himself?

At the moment, Tyler was pacing around the room cackling like a mad man one minute and crying heavily the next. He would sit down and then stand up, bang on the door or throw something across the room. Maybe he truly did belong in an insane asylum.

He didn't blame his family for locking him up now.

"We gotta escape," one sputtered out, eyes twinkling with mischief. He rubbed his hands together.

"Nobody's going to let us out of here you idiot, look what happened with Josh!"

"Have someone come tear the door off its hinges. Like Zack! Zack Zack Zacky Zack."

"We had a brother named Zack, remember him? Oh he was so scared of us killing all the time."

"Tyler this, Tyler that. Tyler stop, your scaring me."

"Tyler did nothing wrong but live his life appropriately."

"You fools! You are all missing the main point!" Tyler was laughing. All these voices were using his body and anyone who would have seen Tyler at the moment would have certified him as a nutjob hands down.

"We have to get out of this roooooom!!!" His voice continued to slip up octaves and then back down repeatedly, giving the actual stuck Tyler a headache within his own head.

"How do you suggest we do that?"

"We find a way. I need to kill someone. It's running through my veins. I need to soak in their blood."

"You're already covered in your own blood."

"The more the merrier, hmmm? I think that's best!"

"Where do you think Josh went? Let's bring him back here!"

"No, you aren't doing that." Tyler was surprised to hear his own normal voice coming out of his mouth. His body seemed to be going through shock as the other voices turned to glare at him. They moved closer to the shadows as he pulled himself out of the dark.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did the rat finally speak?"

"You aren't hurting Josh, and you aren't hurting any of my friends. You already managed to put BF in hiding and I would really like him back now if you don't mind."

They all sneered simultaneously. "You really don't have control of yourself at the moment do you? How are you going to make us obey you?"

Tyler clenched and unclenched a fist. He wasn't sure actually, but he would make sure they wouldn't do anything crazy. Two days was enough of that.

"Don't fight off the real you Tyler, you don't need to try and pretend you are something you're not. We all know the truth."

"I haven't seen the real me in years. The real me is still that scared sixteen year old being locked in his room. He was good, I'm not. I've done a lot of shit, sure, but everyone has done that. All I know is that I was working to be normal, and a lot of shit happened in between, but I'm still going to keep trying. And I'm always going to keep trying. I'm not going to let fear rule over me anymore."

One of them scoffed, lips tilting up into a smirk. "You can try, but we are all you. You can't hide from yourself."

“I think you’re forgetting I have a valuable asset on my side. Someone I really didn’t think I would need until now. But I need control, and he needs control, so common goal.” He clasped his hands with a grin, twisting and lathering them together. The others stared at him in confusion.

“Your little 'pal' isn’t exactly here anymore, is he? I thought you wanted him gone. I thought that was the point of setting Tyler free.”

“I thought pushing Blurryface away would be the ultimate goal, but he was right. I can’t survive without him. Without him, I’m swimming in my head with voices muttering all the time, and that isn’t something I want. He’s a part of me, and I’m finally ready to accept that. I should have done that a long ass time ago. So this is my formal apology I guess. Let’s start that common goal and get rid of crazy Tyler.”

He paused, his eyes flickering around and waiting for Blurry to show up, to save the day, but there was nothing but silence. Smirks rose to the others faces once more.

“Guess your knight in shining armor isn’t coming. You’re pathetic Tyler. Worthless. You should kill yourself.”

“I don’t understand. Why didn’t...” his voice trailed off, a frown appearing on his face as his heart sank to the bottom of his chest. If Blurry wasn’t coming, then he was stuck. He was forever going to be stuck inside his own head.

“You see Tyler, we are you. We have always been you, and we have always been around. You set us free. You’re crazy. You want to kill. But you aren’t going to kill anyone sitting around in this little place of yours. So the best next answer is killing yourself.”

“You don’t think I’ve tried to do that?” he shot back, anger starting to ombre his grief and disappointment. “I’ve tried _hundreds_ of times. I had my life ruined, and I didn’t want to fight anymore. I can’t die.”

“Tried doesn’t mean you’ve been successful. Come on, the walls around you have already declared you insane, just test this, one last time. Whaddya say?” Tyler was staring into the eyes of himself, two empty black holes that brought back nothing but horrible memories. Drugs, death, empty faces, one night stands, “you’ll never be good enough Tyler,” but for some reason he saw one thing in his own eyes that he didn’t see in anyone else. And that was hope.

Because Tyler had his life changed by a stupid, godforsaken, redhaired honey eyed human that walked in and showed him what it was like to love after ten years of battling red eyed demons, staying low, having no control, listening to temptations, and sobbing night after night. Things had been bad from the start and Josh, Josh had always made things seem a little better. He was like a best friend to Tyler, and Tyler loved him. And so what they couldn’t touch anymore? They could make it work. They could still love each other. Tyler would regain control, he would apologize and explain and things would go back to normal.

He stood up as straight as possible and folded his arms tightly across his chest. “No, because I’m not miserable anymore. I’ve accepted who I am as a person, and I have people that love me. Good people. I don’t need to deal with myself being an asshole all the time. So if you’d kindly fuck off, I’d like control of my goddamn body back.”

They stared at him, mouths gaping, and suddenly all four of them disappeared, leaving a familiar ruby eyed Tyler stepping out from the shadows. He bowed and stood up with a smirk.

“I’m at your command.”

 

\---

 

“Have you seen Joshua?” Dallon asked Lynn as he popped his head through the gym door. Keegan and Hayley were in there, but Josh was no where to be found.

Lynn shook her head. “He hasn’t been to the last couple of practices. I’m assuming its because you told him he wasn’t really going to be fighting with us.” She crossed her arms and glared at Dallon. Hayley and Keegan both eyed him curiously, faces masked in a look of “how could you do that?”

Dallon’s face turned bright red, but he knew he had to stand his ground. He let out a small whistle between his teeth. “Come on you guys, you can’t really expect him to fight with us, can you? He’s human. He’s going to get hurt in the first ten seconds.”

“I knew there was a reason you weren’t having me keep an update log for him. Come on Dallon, that’s a little low, especially for you.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m only trying to protect him. The kid’s been through a lot. He was legally dead for almost twenty minutes.”

“He’s really good though. He’s strong, got a lot of muscle from playing the drums all the time and his punches are really quick. I think he could do some damage. And they are his friends too. Patrick is practically his family. You can’t take that away from him.”

“He could certainly do some damage,” Hayley added quietly as she dug the toe of her shoe into the floor. Keegan nodded his head in agreement.

Dallon sighed loudly as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll think about it. Besides that, keep training. In two weeks we are heading out to take back what is rightfully ours. We need to be ready. So whoever you believe needs more work, call them in. Also, do you have any idea where Joshua might be?”

“Did you check the dining room?” Lynn asked, raising an eyebrow. Hayley let out a small giggle and raised a hand to her mouth. She briefly flickered to a copy of Dallon before turning back into herself, causing both of them to burst into another round of laughter. Dallon grumbled under his breath.

“Of course I did. That was the first place I checked.”

“Maybe he’s downstairs with Tyler?” Keegan suggested, raising a hand to point out the door. He was bouncing around on the balls of his feet without realizing it. With another small giggle, Hayley reached out to steady him.

“Guess it’s sunny outside today, huh Keegster?”

“Oh shut up.”

Dallon groaned again. “Whatever. It’s not important. I’ll look for him later. As for you, keep working hard, okay? We need to make sure they never lay a hand on anyone, human or talent, ever again.”

“Yep, got it Dallon,” Lynn said with annoyance. She waved a hand towards the door. “We gotta train now, so...”

“Yeah, of course.” He closed the door and rolled his eyes, sticking out his tongue in some sort of attempt at mockery. Joshua wasn’t the main focus, he just wanted to check up on him. Not that he would be happy to see Dallon anyways. The two weren’t exactly on the best of terms right now. He’d give Josh more time, probably check on him tomorrow.

Mikey approached Dallon as he was walking back to his room to review their battle strategies. He was looking a lot more healthier now, despite it being only a couple days since his return. Some of the bruises Dallon had left untouched were starting to yellow.

“Hey Dal, Gerard was wondering if you wanted me to take him down the trail back to horror island.”

“Horror island?” Dallon repeated in confusion. He had a pretty good idea of what he was referring too, but with Mikey you really never knew.

“Yeah. That’s what I’m calling that trash hole prison. Anyways, it would be good to have another speedster knowing the way just in case something goes wrong and we get separated.”

“Uh, yeah! That’s a good idea. Can you guys do that tomorrow morning? I’m just thinking we wait. Today is kind of a busy day.”

Mikey nodded his head. “Yeah, of course.”

“And you should be getting some rest. You don’t need to be running around.”

He blew a raspberry. “Oh come on Dallon, I’m fine. You did most of the work. Besides, I’m late to the game. I need to start training and get a little better while I can.”

Dallon shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself. Also, anything you can report to me about communication methods?”

“Oh! I forgot to tell you. Gerard found Bluetooth communication. There these little earpieces, like we are the fuckin’ Justice League or some shit. They are really cool.” A huge grin crossed his face as he swung his arms all around. One almost hit Dallon in the face. “We took a couple just to see how well they would work. You wanna look?”

“I’ll take your word for it. I have other stuff to attend to. But uh, try it out and let me know how things go. I bet they work fine.”

Mikey saluted him as he flashed a toothy grin. “Aye aye, captain!” he patted Dallon on the shoulder before disappearing into thin air. Probably back to Gerard’s room if Dallon had to bet money.

He continued back to his room and pushed open the door, planning on reading and studying the map Mikey had helped add locations to. They had to be ready, and know every single possible point of attack at every given sign.

Dallon was surprised to see Pete sitting on his bed.

And he didn’t look happy.

“You fucking prick, you tell me right now what they are doing to Patrick. I want to know right fucking now, or I will start breaking stuff.”

Dallon raised his hands in defense, one shifting back to reach for the doorknob. Pete raised an eyebrow, one eye twitching as he popped up from the bed and took a step forward.

“Pete, I don’t want to worry you. Things aren’t looking good for anyone there, but we are going to rescue them very soon. We have a plan.”

“I don’t care about your fucking plan or your fucking order. I want Patrick to be back here safe and sound. I know they are hurting him, and I know you are hiding something, so you better fucking tell me.”

“You promise you won’t break anything?”

“I can’t promise anything.”

Dallon let out a sigh of defeat. “Okay, fine. Look, they hurt Patrick pretty bad. His powers are difficult to understand and figure out, and they’ve been using him for a lot of experiments. I don’t know much more than that.”

Without warning, Pete slammed him against the door and snarled. “Stop fucking lying Dallon, or I won’t hesitate to rip your bones out of your body.”

“I’m not lying. What do you want me to tell you? He’s hurt really bad.”

“Then what the fuck are we waiting for? I realize you don’t have someone important there, but Patrick is pretty fucking important to me. I love him. Do you fucking understand the concept of love?”

“Don’t you pull that card on me Wentz, you know very well I do.” Dallon was raising his voice now too. He was done with trying to stay calm. “I lost my whole fucking family, mind you. I know _extremely_  well what it’s like to have your heart ripped out of your chest.”

Pete’s grip softened. “I’m sorry, I forgot. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.” His voice was barely over a whisper now, and tears started to run rivers down his face. “I miss him Dallon, I miss him so much. I haven’t been away from him this long in such a long time, and just knowing how much pain he’s in is not coping well with me. I know we need to be patient, need to think things through, but I need to know he’s okay. I need to hold him in my arms and kiss him and tell him everything is alright, that he’s safe. I need him right next to me in bed. I need to hear him laugh and see him smile and--” Pete choked, his legs buckling so hard he landed on his knees. Dallon dropped down next to him.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Everyone copes in different ways. Look at Spencer and Jack. They are missing loved ones as well, but they are more angry than sad or afraid. And we are going to get everyone and bring them home, okay? Everyone is going to be okay. I promise. Two weeks, we are going after them with everything we got, and we're going to kick ass.”

“He’s weak,” Pete sobbed into his hands. “What if he doesn’t make it?”

“Don’t think that way,” Dallon said sharply, “he’s okay. Patrick is strong, you and I both know that. He’s not weak at all. I _know_ he’s strong, okay? Things are going to be okay. You should try going down to the gym. Get all that anger and sadness and frustration out into one giant workout. Bring the roof down.” After a moment, he added, “metaphorically of course.” Pete sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

“God, I’m sorry. I haven’t cried like that in a while.” He shook his head. “But thank you. That’s a really good idea. I’m going to go do that.” Dallon helped him stand up, and then Pete gave him the biggest hug he could muster. It was a little awkward, considering Dallon was a good foot taller than him, but Pete was being genuine and it was good that he trusted him.

“Things are going to be okay man,” Dallon promised. Pete forced a smile before disappearing out the door, red rimmed eyes and all. Dallon collapsed on his bed.

Being leader was hard work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a shoutout to everyone getting my small lyric references throughout the story. You're the true MVP's.


	16. 016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you guys know that just because someone is working as a part of Brent's clan doesn't necessarily make them evil, just... confused. And let me say that Chrissy Constanza is one of the nicest people ever, so don't worry. And David Boyd. Both very nice people. I promise.

“Wakey wakey sleepyhead!” a girl giggled, her voice high pitched, and frankly, kind of annoying. Josh groaned. He could feel her poking his cheek. “Come on, I brought you food.”

“What time is it?” he asked in a mumble as he attempted to get the sleep out of his eyes. He had to admit, the girl was extremely beautiful. She had long brown hair that faded into blonde and giant brown eyes, all complete with a giant smile on her face. In her hands she was cradling what looked to be an energy bar.

“It’s almost ten o’clock. I know Mr. Wilson said you’d be going through phase two without any pain medication, but you kept screaming all day yesterday and I had to put you out of your misery. So now it’s morning! And you should eat this because you haven’t eaten in a day. Oh, I’m Chrissy by the way. I’m Mr. Wilson’s right hand man. Think The Joker and Harley Quinn. He’s my Mr. J.” her grin grew wider as she unwrapped part of the energy bar and broke a piece off. She waved it around. “Open up, love!”

He narrowed his eyes at her, because this was ridiculous, but he could feel his stomach practically begging for food so he listened and allowed her to drop the piece into his mouth. Josh chewed slowly, watching her every move. She didn’t move herself until Josh had finished eating.

Then Chrissy turned towards his IV and monitor, her eyes scanning for any slipups. She pointed to a rapid jump in the steady line. “Your heart had a freakout here.”

“Whoops.”

She giggled again. “You’re funny Joshie, I like you. You’re different, especially for a human.” Chrissy paused, her face scrunching up like she was thinking extremely hard, as she stroked her chin. “But I guess you technically aren’t human anymore, are you? That’s exciting. That means I’ll get you all to myself.” Chrissy leaned over to brush Josh’s cheek. He scowled and moved his head to the best of his ability.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m gay. Like, pretty damn gay.”

“Mr. Wilson told me you had a freak over at the other clan, but I didn’t expect it to be true. How can someone as pretty as you be gay?”

“The hot ones always are gay, aren’t they?”

Chrissy threw her head back in laughter, her hair falling over her shoulders. She was very pretty; Josh was sure any guy would do anything she asked. But Josh wasn’t any guy.

“God, you are just a riot! Damn.” She smiled, her red lips pressed tightly together. She began weaving her fingers through Josh’s hair, separating the strands that were the faded pink from his natural brown. “Mr. Wilson wants me to redo your hair. He’s thinking red again, but I’m not sure. I bet you looked pretty damn sexy with dark hair.”

Josh scoffed, remembering when he had his hair brown. It was thick and curly and made him look ten years younger than he actually was. Chrissy ran one of her hands down Josh’s arm, causing him to shudder at her soft touch. Her smile turned more towards a smirk. She focused on his tattoo sleeve and began running her fingers up and down the large sauve of colors.

“I’ve always had a thing for men with tattoos,” she added softly. “God Josh, you are just extraordinary.” a sigh escaped her lips and she sat up straight and moved to the back of the room to grab the clipboard. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time to fool around right now. We’ve got to get you started on phase three. Just answer the questions honestly, okay?” she stuck her tongue out the corner of her mouth and tapped the pen on the side of the clipboard.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” You know, he if wasn’t trapped and being experimented on.

“Do you feel stronger? Faster? I don’t know what those things are supposed to feel like.” She shrugged as Josh raised an eyebrow.

“Completely honest?” she nodded. “I don’t feel any different.”

Chrissy frowned. “It probably hasn’t kicked in yet. That’s okay. Phase three is just the little stuff. We have to make you look like a soldier.” She laughed once more. “You are so gorgeous, I’m just picturing you in uniform right now.” Josh rolled his eyes again. She clucked her tongue, eyes drifting back to the clipboard. “Alrighty, vitals look good, you’ve been fed, which means I get to do the fun part.” She flashed Josh a toothy grin before raising a hand to her right ear.

“Constanza to Wilson, Dun is doing fine. Should I commence phase three?” she waited patiently for an answer. “No sir, nothing has showed up yet. I’m thinking things are still reacting. Yes, it’s in his system. Yes of course. No sir. I--” she closed her mouth and her eyes filled with fear. Josh figured she was probably getting yelled at. When she spoke again, her voice was shaky. “Y-Yes sir, of course. Do you have the--” Chrissy bit her lip. “Okay. we’ll be here. Constanza out.” her hand came down from her ear and she tugged down on her shirt with a forced smile.

“Boyd is bringing the hair dye, so I'm taking you down to another room. Are you, uhm, can you move?”

“Are you okay?” Josh asked, because it was the right thing to do. The girl looked like she was about to burst into tears.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine. Anyways, I’ve gotta get you down there, so...” her voice trailed off as her eyes wandered around the room. Josh nodded.

“Uh yeah, okay.” He pulled up on the shackles around his wrists, trying to adjust them until Chrissy could get them off, but instead there came a loud groaning sound and the two of them froze. Chrissy stared.

“What did you just do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Josh said as he pulled up again, completely splitting both shackles in half. He stared in disbelief, his breath lodging in his throat.

“Oh my God,” she said quietly, a smile rising to her lips. A real, genuine smile this time. “Josh, you are brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”

He found himself unable to say a single word. He couldn’t believe how that was possible, that was metal he had just ripped in half. How on earth did he, how could he--

“We’ve failed, we’ve failed so many times, but look at you! You were strong enough to survive, and oh my God! We did it!” she laughed loudly as her hands scrambled to grab the clipboard. Chrissy began scrawling across the paper.

With his eyes on Chrissy, Josh slowly moved one hand to the restraints across his waist, getting a good grip so he could pull. They came off easily, like tearing paper. He still couldn’t believe this, any of this, was even possible.

He pulled off the shackles around his ankles and sat up straight on the table, rubbing his wrists to bring back some feeling to them. Next came out the IV, a simple pull with an added hiss of pain as the needle slipped out of his skin. He was free. He could get out. He could go find the others and leave this godforsaken place.

Chrissy was staring at him when he looked back up, her eyes gleaming with lust. “You’re not going anywhere Joshie, hope you realize that.”

“But I’m stronger than you now. What are you going to do about it?” he was challenging her, trying to create a diversion. But she only scoffed and moved closer to him, her eyes never leaving his defensive position. Although Josh was much taller than her, she still managed to match his threatening stance.

“If you’re stronger than me, go ahead and do something about it.” Chrissy smirked, gesturing towards Josh as she backed up towards the wall. He jumped off the table and followed, until he had managed to trap her in a corner.

“Trapped,” Josh declared, pushing one hand against her shoulder. She feigned pain, her eyelids fluttering.

And suddenly Josh couldn’t move. He physically couldn’t move any part of his body, not even his eyes or mouth. He was locked on Chrissy’s smirk.

She flipped him around so he was pressed against the wall, a small laugh escaping her lips. “My powers come in handy, Joshie. You aren’t going anywhere until I say you can.” Chrissy waved, a simple wiggle of her fingers, before skipping over to the counter where she opened up a drawer to reveal a pocket knife. She flickered it open, cleaned the blade with her shirt, and then approached Josh once more, where she lifted up the fabric of his thin shirt and sliced it clean. She cut until she could tear and pulled the scraps and remains of his shirt off of him. It went to the floor.

Chrissy let out a low whistle. “Damn, phase two did good things to you.” One hand rested on his stomach while the other tugged down on his jeans to better see the V of his muscles. God, did he wish he could stop her from whatever she was planning on doing. “You are so attractive,” she mumbled before pulling away. “Your little friend is very lucky.”

Josh wished he could say something.

Chrissy was back over at the drawers, pulling out one of those stupid collars. She pushed something on it until the red light turned on, already fulfilling it’s blinking duties. “Congrats Joshua, you are now considered a talent.” Chrissy locked it around his neck and Josh almost immediately slumped to the floor. She grinned at him from above. “Now come on, we gotta get you down for phase three. You’re almost there soldier.”

Chrissy helped Josh stand up, and then she was muttering something into her radio before pulling his hands behind his back and locking his handcuffs. They were way more advanced in torturing technology than back home. If he got out alive, he’d have to tell Pete to start up some new techniques.

Together they moved down the hallway, Josh looking around as they walked. This was the first time he had seen the building, and Mikey was right. It was huge. He was trying to memorize the ways they were going, but Chrissy was moving quickly and they were turning left and then right and then another left so fast that it was hard to keep up. The collar around his neck made him feel like his body weighed a thousand tons and it was hard for him to even stand up straight.

As they passed jail cells, Josh stared, terrified, at all the broken looking talents in the cells. He didn’t recognize anyone, but all were covered in so much dirt and blood it was hard to tell who they were anyways.

But then there was a flash of electric blue.

“Alex?” Josh exclaimed, stopping suddenly which caused Chrissy to slam into him. She rubbed her nose and groaned loudly.

“Josh?” Alex was to the bars in seconds, a giant blood encrusted cut right above his eyebrow. His eyes were wide. “Why are you here? What’s going on?”

“We don’t have time for a family reunion right now love,” Chrissy said, giving Josh a nudge forward. He tried to stand his ground.

“Things are going to be okay Alex, I promise.”

“Josh, what did they do to you?” He was starting to hyperventilate, and Chrissy let out a sigh. She raised a hand back up to her ear.

“Cell block A, prisoner 21-B, I need a name. Gaskarth? Perfect, thank you. Can you give him, yeah that’s perfect, thank you.” Once she clicked off, Chrissy flashed a fake grin. “Yo Gaskarth, I’m gonna need you to back away.”

“What did you do to him?” Alex was yelling now, his knuckles turning white from gripping the bars too hard. Josh shook his head, trying to tell Alex that he needed to stop talking without saying anything.

“Back away,” Chrissy repeated, her tone more firm this time. He still didn’t listen. With a sigh, Chrissy leaned down and pressed a button located on some sort of panel on her belt. Alex crumpled to the floor, a loud scream coming out his mouth and echoing throughout the hallway.

“Stop!” Josh yelled, trying to turn around to stop her. Chrissy put a hand on Josh’s back and shoved him forward.

“Keep moving Dun, we are on a very tight schedule.” Josh tried to avoid her shoves, but she was stronger than him and able to continue pulling him down the hallway. He wanted to punch something, because he knew this was happening, he had just watched it happen, and that was not okay. None of this way okay. It was pretty damn awful actually.

When they reached the right room, Chrissy inputted the code and Josh was pulled inside like he weighed nothing. He let out a frustrated sigh as he was thrown down into a chair recklessly and strapped to it. There was another guy in the room, a tall, thin man with a little bit of a beard. He looked like he could kill someone with one glare.

“Is this him?” he asked, nodding his head towards Josh. He had a little bit of an accent; European maybe?

Chrissy nodded her head. “Boyd, meet Joshua Dun, the first successful super soldier. He survived phase one _and_ two.”

Boyd scoffed. “So I’m stuck helping with the little stuff. Of course. He’ll never trust me with anything else.”

“That’s cause you’re not from around here.” She giggled. “This is David, but most people just call him Boyd. He’s from Denmark. Don’t piss him off though. Bad things will happen.”

“So I’m expecting you to do everything we say.” he cracked his knuckles and Josh gulped.

“We are under strict orders not to do any harm to him,” Chrissy warned as she went to the back of the room and pulled open a cabinet. She began mixing a powder and a liquid together.

“Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. I won’t hurt the captain.” He scoffed. “Dye’s by the sink, Constanza.”

“Thank you.” She craned her neck to flash him a smile and then went back to mixing whatever she was making. Boyd continued studying Josh. He walked around him in a small circle with his arms folded tightly across his chest. It began to make Josh uneasy.

“What are we supposed to do with him again?”

“Haircut, some grooming, dye his hair, change eye colour... make him look proper I guess. That’s the orders.”

“He isn’t going to look proper with an arm full of tattoos and this whole punk goth look he’s got going on.”

Josh rolled his eyes.

“Fine, let me rephrase. We have to make him look intimidating.”

“Well that might be a challenge, considering he looks like a high school dropout who never left their seventh grade emo phase.”

“Oh shut it Boyd, he’s hot.” Chrissy winked and turned back around to pour the mixture into a glass. It was dark brown, lumpy, and didn’t look appetizing at all. Josh hoped he didn’t have to drink that.

Chrissy approached the two of them, glass in hand. She lowered herself to move the glass closer to Josh’s lips.

Yeah, of course they were going to force him to drink it.

“This usually is injected but I’m figuring this will move a lot faster this way. It’s gonna glaze your eyes over, make them look really dark, like a demon or something. Really intimidating. You’ll also be extremely sexy.” She sighed happily before moving the glass even closer. “Drink all of it.”

“And don’t forget we have ways of making you do stuff.” added Boyd as he pointed to his neck. Josh took a deep breath as Chrissy poured the liquid down his throat.

It tasted disgusting and he wanted to throw it up almost immediately, but he kept chugging, figuring there might be some light on the other end of the tunnel. The minute Chrissy pulled the now empty glass away, Josh was sputtering, his eyes squeezing shut as he coughed loudly.

“Get him some water,” Chrissy demanded. Josh felt her hand on his shoulder. “It’s a bunch of weird stuff that act with the nerves in your eyes. Don’t worry, you aren’t going to die.”

He was incredibly thankful when she started pouring water down his throat. It was the nicest thing he had felt in a while. Chrissy was treating him like a kid, whispering “It’s all good baby, things are gonna be okay” and stroking his back with her hand. It was weird. He didn’t like her, but she had been the nicest one to him at least so far, even if she did like him, uh, like that.

“When is this thing supposed to work?” Boyd asked with a wave of his hand. Chrissy shrugged.

“Beats me. But we have to continue. You wanna go get the stuff?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back.” With a sharp nod, he disappeared out the door leaving just the two of them. She turned back to grin.

“All alone,” she whispered in a singsong tone before going over to the sink. She opened the hair dye and put on the gloves that came with it.

“You ever dyed someone’s hair before?” Josh asked nervously, because he had suffered through plenty of bad hair dying experiences. Chrissy scoffed.

“Of course I have. Let a woman do her job.”

Josh didn’t say another word.

 

\---

 

Gerard and Mikey barrelled into Dallon’s room at the speed of sound looking terrified beyond all belief. Dallon looked up from the map.

“The door’s unlocked,” Gerard said quietly. Mikey nodded his head.

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean, the door is unlocked. Which meant somebody without a key left.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t Mikey again?” Dallon teased, causing Mikey to scowl.

“This is serious Dallon. Have you authorized anyone to leave recently?”

“No, I haven’t.” Dallon cleared his throat and stood up from his bed. “How did you guys find out?”

“I was going to show Gerard the way to Horror Island, remember? We saw the door was unlocked.”

“There are footprints too,” Gerard added. “They lead towards the garage, but we didn’t go that far. We went straight here.”

“That’s strange, nobody was supposed to leave...” Dallon trailed off, lost in his thoughts before something hit him. “Oh my God. Oh no no no no no no no no NO!” Instead of answering the brothers' confused expressions, Dallon darted out his bedroom and down the hallway, all the way until he reached Josh’s room. He didn’t even bother knocking, just ran right in.

The bed was made, nothing out of the ordinary to be found. His drumkit still sat in the corner, but there was an empty feeling in the room.

Dallon opened drawers, went into the bathroom to look for a toothbrush, a razor, shampoo, but nothing was there and all his clothes were gone. He sank to his knees in defeat. Gerard and Mikey were joining him in seconds.

“He’s gone,” Dallon whispered, his eyes starting to water. “He left.”

“Josh is gone?” Mikey asked, but he could kind of figure he was based on the emptiness of the room. Gerard sighed angrily and ran his fingers through his hair.

“That means that was him that left the door unlocked. Those were his footprints. I wondered why I hadn’t seen him in awhile.”

“Why would he leave?” Dallon asked no one in particular. “Why would he, of all times? Where is he even going to go?”

“You guys weren’t on the best of terms,” Mikey pointed out. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “And his relationship with Tyler kind of sank, so I can see why.” He offered a hand to Dallon, who graciously accepted.

“Take me to where you saw the footprints,” he demanded, and Gerard nodded his head. They travelled through the hallway and out the door. It was sunny today, sunlight managing to sneak through cracks in the foliage.

“Here,” Gerard pointed. Dallon crouched down.

Sure enough, there were dried, faint traces of footprints disappearing in the direction of the garage. He began to follow them, keeping his eyes peeled for any more traces or signs of where Josh might have gone. The three of them walked quietly, all looking, until Mikey froze.

“Not good,” he mumbled, looking up at them. Dallon and Gerard moved over to see two more trails of footprints crisscrossing in the dirt.

“Whose are those?” Gerard questioned. Dallon shrugged. He stood still and closed his eyes, trying to locate Josh’s current emotion.

Disgust, pleasure, small traces of fear.

What on earth was he doing?

“He doesn’t seem too scared,” Dallon answered as he opened his eyes, even though it wasn’t the answer to the question Gerard asked. He continued walking, the brothers following.

Then Dallon stopped moving, because there was Josh’s hat lying in the middle of a patch of branches, and his duffel bag recklessly thrown to the side. There were three sets of footprints.

“That’s really not good,” said Mikey as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Gerard let out a low whistle.

“He got kidnapped,” Dallon said quietly as he reached to grab Josh’s snapback from the bushes. He brushed off a few strands of grass and stared at it in his hands.

“Well, we can’t assume that,” Gerard started, but Mikey cut him off.

“The footprints continue the way to the other clan’s base, I really think they did take him.”

“It would make sense,” Dallon continued, “Brent wanted to use him as their final attempt at making a talent. They are probably treating him nicely, since he is their creation after all.”

“But wouldn’t Josh be freaking out right now?” Mikey ran a hand through his hair. “It’s horrible there, and they're probably experimenting on him right now.”

“We don’t know that,” Gerard was trying to stay positive, but Dallon shook his head.

“Get this: Joshua agreed to be their test subject.”

“No way.” Mikey looked shocked while Gerard just sighed.

“They can’t be doing good things to him,” Dallon felt his heart drop. “Another person we have to save.”

“And I damn well better be invited.” The three of them swiveled around at the arrival of a new voice. Tyler stood there, freshly groomed and a new coat of paint covering his hands. His eyes glowed red, but there was something different about him.

“Oh no,” Mikey whispered, finishing with a gulp. Gerard took a step back.

“How did you get out?” Dallon asked in astonishment.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.” he rolled his eyes and they drained to dark with a tilt of his head, where Tyler let out a small smirk. “There, all better?”

“Oh my God. You did it.” Dallon felt like his feet were nailed to the floor.

“So what’s this about my boyfriend getting captured?” Tyler picked Josh’s hat out of Dallon’s hands and twirled it around on one finger. He crept between Mikey and Gerard to throw Josh’s duffel over his shoulder.

“Where did you come from?” Dallon was still dumbfounded. He hadn’t seen Tyler in almost a month and yet, here he stood, better than ever.

“I had Spencer let me out. He’s not very happy Brendon is missing. Also, what is this about you being leader? Thought that was my job.”

“Well of course it is, we just thought you weren’t ready, able to, because of--”

“Yet here I am.” he paused. “Anyways, tell me about Josh being taken.”

“Josh isn’t here anymore, and all signs point to him being captured.” Mikey spoke up, his eyes on the ground. Tyler raised a hand to his chin.

“Did you know he agreed to let them do experiments on him? For you, he said.” Tyler stared at Dallon like he was crazy.

“What have they been doing?”

“Oh yeah, you’ve been out of the loop.” Dallon scratched his head. “Brent’s in another clan. He was sent here to scope out what talents they could use for experiments. They’ve been attempting to turn humans into talents.”

“And failing,” added Mikey. He pushed the toe of his shoe into the dirt.

“But Josh agreed to let them do that stuff to him?” Tyler suddenly looked really scared. “Why would he do that? They’re going to hurt him, we’ve gotta do something, gotta go after them!”

“We have a plan Tyler, don’t worry. In a little less than two weeks, we are going. Everyone’s been preparing. Mikey was about to show Gerard the way there, scope out some stuff. Ways in and whatnot.”

“Two weeks? They could kill him by then!”

“Mikey just barely escaped, we have to have time for it to not be suspicious. He’s okay right now, I promise. We just have to be cautious.”

Tyler sighed, but nodded his head in agreement. “We are going in guns blazing, I don’t care what happens. We are getting back Josh, we are getting back everyone they took. I know they took you Mikey, who else did they take?”

“Patrick, who has had it pretty bad, Brendon, Alex, Joe, and Gabe.”

“Fucking assholes. I don’t care what it takes, they are going down. Nobody takes my people and gets away with it.” he sighed, before continuing in a softer voice. “How’s Pete doing?”

Dallon frowned. “Not well.”

“That’s what I thought.” Tyler ran a hand through his hair again. “I bet everyone is super upset.”

“Spencer and Jack never leave the gym,” Mikey commented sadly.

“Okay, well then we are planning for two weeks. Mikey, you go ahead and continue with Gerard, Dallon, I’m gonna head back with you. Good?”

“Great.” Mikey pulled on his brother’s arm and they began walking the opposite way.

Dallon and Tyler were quiet the first half of the journey. Dallon watched him silently, trying to get a read on his current emotional state. Him and BF seemed to be on good terms, and he wasn’t sure how. Tyler had never seemed like the kind of person to work with well with him, but here he was.

“How have things been with the other guy?” Dallon finally inquired, because he really wanted to know what happened to make things change.

“A lot happened in that month. I got lost in my own head, Blurry had a small freakout, I went crazy, and now we are working together. We have a goal. Josh.”

“We’re going to get him back Ty, we are going to get all of them back. I promise.”

“I know. I just, what if they’ve already started doing stuff to him? I don’t like thinking about that. Especially because he came down to see me and I tried to kill him.”

“You did WHAT?” Dallon suddenly stopped in the middle of the path and turned to face Tyler. Tyler looked guilty.

“I told you. I was lost in my own head and I kept hearing voices and they were all saying different things and I was crazy. It wasn’t me, but it was. And we ended on bad terms, and I just need to make sure he’s okay. Dallon, I’m in love with him.”

“Oh Tyler.” Dallon sighed heavily and reached to pull him into a hug. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“Like I haven’t heard that before.”

“Hey.” He pulled away and rested his hands on Tyler’s shoulders. “We are here to follow your lead boss.”

Tyler grinned. “Then this means war.”


	17. 017

“Alright Josh, you ready to see your newly groomed self?” Chrissy was grinning ear to ear as she put the finishing touches to Josh’s supposedly “intimidating” look. After they dyed his hair, Chrissy cut it, leaving the top long and the sides short. She did his shaving for him. Then she paused to freak out about his eyes, because they were starting to gloss over. They gave him new clothes, and now Chrissy was putting bright red eye makeup around his eyes. He protested, but it wasn’t like he was going to be able to stop her anyways. She kept squealing with excitement, and every time David would roll his eyes and groan audibly. Then she would shush him.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” he grumbled, causing Chrissy to frown.

“Come on Joshie, get excited!”

“It’s all theatrics. This isn’t intimidating, it’s just plain stupid.” added Boyd. Josh agreed.

“Well I think you look lovely.” she set down the brush and kissed him on the cheek. Boyd sighed again as she bounced over to the counter to get a mirror.

Josh held his breath until she shoved the mirror in front of his face. And okay, he did look scary, in a weird way. His hair was blood red, the makeup around his eyes the same colour. Not to mention that his eyes were so dark purple that they were practically black and he truly did look like one of those demons from Supernatural. (Of course Josh had seen that show once or twice, hadn’t everybody? Dean and Cas totally had chemistry.)

“Woah,” was his response. Chrissy squealed again.

“You like? Oh Joshie, you are going to be the best we’ve ever done.”

Boyd scoffed. “I’ll believe it when I see it. So what are we supposed to do now?”

“Let me ask.” she went to her radio. “Constanza to Wilson, phase three is complete. Waiting for further instructions. Yes sir, he looks lovely. Of course. Should I take him back to lab one? Who? Yeah, we can do that. Can you give me info? Thank you sir.” when she clicked off, Chrissy turned towards her current partner. “Cell block D, prisoner 246-01. Urie. Wilson wants you to take him there.”

“I get to see Brendon?” Josh asked hopefully. Chrissy nodded.

“You’ve earned it. See what being good does for you? Boyd’s going to take you and then you’ll go somewhere else for phase four. You’re almost there Joshie.”

“Why do I have to be the soccer mom?” Boyd whined. Josh guessed he didn’t get to do much around here.

“Because you’re good at being the soccer mom. Now hurry. Urie is due for DNA fragmenting at noon.”

“Fine.” He pulled a small silver key out of his pocket and gestured for Josh to get out the chair. Then he was locking handcuffs tightly around Josh’s wrists and giving him a little push towards the door.

“See you later love!” Chrissy called out behind them, blowing Josh a kiss. He sighed as David gave him another shove. They walked for a little while, Josh once more looking at all the miserable talents locked away in cells. Most of them were slumped against the walls.

When they reached cell block D, David starting counting the cell numbers under his breath before they stopped. Josh could see Brendon’s familiar chocolate brown hair and his leather jacket leaning against the back wall. His eyelids were fluttering, like he was trying to sleep.

Josh dropped to his knees outside his cell and tried to pull at his handcuffs. David hung back.

“Brendon!” Josh whispered harshly, not wanting to annoy the others around them. The guy in the cell next to Brendon wrapped his hands around the bars as Brendon’s eyes shot open. His mouth dropped.

“Josh? What are you doing here? What happened to you?” he climbed to the front of his cell on hands and knees and sat gaping at Josh’s new appearance. Josh shook his head.

“They kidnapped me too. They’ve been doing experiments on me man. How can you guys survive with being able to hear every damn thing?”

“Oh Josh, no.” he sounded sincere, but also broken. His clothes were ripped and his skin was pale and covered in heavy blood encrusted bruises.

“They’ve been doing it in phases. I don’t know what that means, but they are trying to turn me into some kind of weapon. I’m a freak.” Josh lifted up his neck so Brendon could see the collar blinking around his neck. Brendon shook his head sadly again.

“I’m so sorry Josh. I’m so, _so,_ sorry.”

“We are going to get you guys out of here, okay? We are going to get everyone out.”

“You’re going to get us out?” the guy in the cell next to them asked, eyes just as wide as Brendon’s had been. He seemed fascinated with Josh’s freaky demon eyes.

“That’s Ryan,” Brendon said.

“Yeah, I promise. I just need to-”

“Alright Dun, times up.” Boyd pulled hard on the back of Josh’s neck to put him back on his feet, but Josh shoved him away.

“Why do you guys keep hurting these people? Can’t you see how broken they are?” he was angry.

Boyd only scoffed. “For the love of God, can’t we ever have one prisoner that listens? This is ridiculous.” He lifted a finger to his right ear. “Boyd requesting permission for cell block D, label 246-01 and 145-G. Ross and Urie. Yep, thank you much.” once he clicked off, he pressed a button on a small panel just like the one Chrissy had and both Ryan and Brendon crumpled to the floor, their screams echoing throughout the hallway as electricity coursed through their bodies. Josh wanted to scream himself.

“Stop it!” he fought back, managing to kick David before he moved away. David glared at Josh.

“I told you to watch yourself. You might be worshipped around here, but I could care less about you pathetic excuse for a talent.” he sneered, reaching for the button on his belt. Josh repeated the actions of Ryan and Brendon previously, pain shooting through his veins from his feet to his head. He let a loud scream escape from his lips as he tumbled back down to the floor in a curled heap.

“I know who all your little buddies are Joshua, and I can make your life miserable. I can get access to all of them. There’s 21-B: Gaskarth, 467-J: Saporta, 358-97: Trohman. Or my personal favourite, 27-F. Stump.”

“No,” Josh gasped, eyes squeezed shut. He could barely breath.

“Stump is a personal favourite around here. He’s so much fun to watch. He bleeds like a motherfucker though. And his screams are loud.” David laughed loudly. “Get this: someone put a hook on the hand that got cut off. Now when his eyes glow gold and shit, we all laugh. He looks like an angry pirate.”

“Please.”

“You’re pathetic Dun, you really are. Out of all people, I don’t know why Wilson chose you.” He laughed again, but a loud beeping noise brought his laughter to an end. An intercom clicked on.

“Boyd to room 113, _now_.” They did not sound happy.

He gulped before shooting Josh a look and disappearing down the hallway. Josh stared up at the ceiling, trying to regain his breath.

"Everyone alright?" That was Ryan asking. Josh nodded his head, breaths still uneven and short.

"That is not pleasant."

"No they aren't. That guy's an asshole."

"He comes down here a lot," added Brendon. Josh could see him sit up from the corner of his eye. He himself attempted to sit up as well, using the nearby wall to drag himself up as best a guy wearing handcuffs could. Never did he want that ever happen again. It was like the equivalent of getting struck by lightning.

“They’re going to come back for me,” Josh whispered, mostly directed towards himself than Brendon. But Brendon still answered.

“Run. Try and get away as far as possible. We can make it for a few more days.” he forced a smile, but it was too broken to even look remotely real. Josh sighed.

“I won't make it. But you’re going to get out.” He wanted to tell Brendon their clan was coming, but that meant the others would hear him and their plan would get ruined. So he had to stick with being vague. “They are going to do something terrible to me Brendon, and I don’t know if I’m going to survive. If I do, I probably won’t be me anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

Josh only shook his head sadly. “Spencer misses you a lot, okay? He loves you. And I’m sure he’d be happy to know you’re okay.”

“He’s doing okay?” Brendon seemed to perk up a little bit at the mention of Spencer.

“He’s upset, but he’s doing okay.”

“Mikey got out. They weren’t happy about it. Did he go back home?” Brendon seemed hopeful. Josh looked around before quickly nodding his head.

“Dun!” Brent yelled as he made his way down the hallway. Some of the people in the cells were booing. Josh sighed heavily.

“You’ll be okay, I promise!” Josh shouted back as Brent forcefully grabbed him and began shoving him down the hallway. Brendon and Ryan stared with worrying looks, but said nothing more. Probably to avoid getting hurt, which Josh didn’t blame them for. Brent was mumbling under his breath as they walked.

“I’m sorry Boyd was a fucking idiot,” he started, his mumbling now directed towards Josh. “He had strict orders not to harm you and he did and now he’s on probation.” Josh didn’t say anything. “But damn, Constanza was right. You look good. Very good. She did an extremely good job. We only have two more phases and you should be perfect. Although this next phase is a bitch and no one has survived. But I have faith in you.”

“What are you going to do to me?”

Brent only smirked. “Patience Joshua, patience.”

After inputting the code to a room he had never been to, Josh was shoved in and stumbled over his feet. The room was huge and completely white, with a chamber on one side closed in by a thick glass wall. There were shackles on the other side of the wall, Josh noticed. For him, most likely.

He gulped.

“Now I’ve been thinking of some ideas for your main power, the thing that’s really going to play a role in the soldier experience. But after seeing how Chrissy designed you, I’m thinking operation firestorm.”

“Operation firestorm?” repeated Josh with less enthusiasm. Brent nodded. He pushed Josh against the back wall and began stripping off his clothing. Josh didn’t even bother trying to fight him. He was too afraid of getting shocked again. Once Josh had as much skin exposed as possible, he opened up the chamber door and gave him a healthy push inside. The door shut loudly behind them.

Brent started explaining as he exchanged Josh’s handcuffs for the shackles on the wall. “Boyd has quite an extraordinary power that is usually not very helpful, but today will be. So although he’s on probation and is a fucking idiot, he will be a big help to us. Nuclear energy is his specialty.”

This was bad.

“We are shifting your atoms over to those of pure energy. He’s going to help separate and use radioactivity to pretty much kill you and bring you back to life, only to put you in some sort of limbo state. But because you’ll be pure energy, you’ll be extremely hot in temperature. You could melt metal with a single touch. Every single part of your body will be able to combust into flames if this goes right.”

“No,” Josh whispered in horror, because they were going to change his entire chemical makeup and there was no way in hell he was going to be able to survive that.

“Oh come on Joshie, that’s cool!” Brent was still grinning. He left the room and came back with a roll of duct tape. “But just so you don’t keep talking, I’m gonna go ahead and use some of this.” One hand gripped Josh’s chin firmly while the other slapped a strip over his mouth. Josh tried to pull it away using his tongue, but it was no use. He let out a muffled scream.

“Stop being over dramatic.” Brent rolled his eyes. “After, while you’re still out, I’m going to have Vecchio do some programming, really turn you into the perfect weapon. Say goodbye to your emotions.”

Josh screamed again.

Brent trailed his fingertips across Josh’s cheek with a happy sigh. “Don’t worry Dun, things are going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.” A hand went up to his ear. “Wilson to Boyd, Operation Firestorm is a go. Please come as soon as possible. Great.” He stared at Josh with a large smile. “You’re beautiful Josh, absolutely fucking beautiful. I’m so happy we found you.” Josh wanted to die. It would be a lot better than this. Why did he ever think it would be a good idea to do stuff like this? Before he even knew what was going to happen, and now it was happening and Josh felt like the biggest fucking idiot in the entire universe. How could he have taken care of Tyler or anyone if he couldn’t even take care of himself? Now they were turning him into a monster, and he wouldn’t be able to control what he did. Would they make him kill people? Torture? Kidnap? He didn’t want to think about it. Josh was stupid.

The others weren’t even coming for another week and Josh might be dead by then. Or he might be so evil that they kill him and go back to living life the way it was before Josh was there.

Why couldn’t those thugs have killed him that night and saved him all the trouble?

Boyd’s entry into the room interrupted Josh’s thoughts. He flashed Josh a wicked smile that said “prepare for more pain you fucking joke” and cracked his knuckles again.

“You know what we talked about?” Brent asked, and Boyd nodded his head. “Great. Well then Josh, I’ll see you in a couple days.” He left the room leaving Josh alone with someone he really despised.

Boyd raised a fist and used his other hand to wave with a simple wiggle of his fingers. “Bye bye Joshie.” And then his fist was slamming into Josh’s temple, knocking him out cold.

 

\---

 

Tyler sat cross legged in the middle of Josh’s bed as he went through the clothes Josh had stuffed away in his duffel. It was nothing unusual, just shirts and pants and basketball shorts. But then he noticed Josh had shoved some of Tyler’s clothes in there as well and it made him smile.

Josh had wanted to remember him.

He pulled out one of his personal favourites of Josh’s shirts, a black one with white folded sleeves. Josh always looked good whenever he wore it. Tyler buried his face in it.

It still smelled like him.

Damn, did he miss Josh. He tried to remember the last time they had kissed, hugged, _touched,_ but it seemed like such a long time ago. All he wanted was to see Josh again. He knew things wouldn’t be able to go back to how they had been, but at least he would know Josh was safe. He wondered why Josh was trying to leave, but then again, he completely understood why. No human wanted to live with a bunch of freaks.

Tyler wondered if Josh was still human.

It scared the shit out of him not knowing what they were doing to Josh. They could be fanning and feeding him grapes or watching him scream and bleed.

_We’re going to find him Ty._

Tyler sighed. He went back to digging in Josh’s bag. Razor, deodorant, cologne, shampoo, and his drumsticks.

Tyler played with one, rolling it in between his fingers. They were old and worn down with use, but Tyler liked that. He wished he would have kept up with an instrument like Josh did. Maybe he’d look into that. Piano wasn’t that hard to pick up again.

A knock on the door broke Tyler away from his daydreams and he looked up to see Dallon poke his head in.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but there are people that have questions, and since you are our leader, I assumed that you maybe would want to answer them.”

“Oh. Yeah. Of course.” Tyler rolled off the bed and tugged down on his shirt before following Dallon out the door. He shoved the drumsticks in his back pocket.

People were staring at him again, but it wasn’t like it had been in the past. They seemed thankful that he was back.

Dallon led him to the dining room where mostly everyone had already gathered. They were just waiting for a couple stragglers before the “meeting” started. Tyler kept glancing around him. It had been awhile since he had been up here, and last time things had been on fire and people were injured. He was glad to see that things looked a little better now.

“Hey guys?” Dallon called out, causing everyone to look over at him. Tyler felt some eyes on him as well. He couldn’t remember the last time he had stood in front of the group and delivered announcements, but did know the group had been significantly smaller back then.

Dallon elbowed him and Tyler cleared his throat. He waved awkwardly.

“Hey everyone. It’s good to see you again. Dallon said you have some questions, so uhm, ask away.”

“How you feeling Ty?” Hayley spoke up from the front of the crowd. She looked at him with concern.

He nodded his head. “I’m good. Things have been rough, but I’m all good now. Me, myself, and I are all on good terms.”

Someone scoffed. Both Dallon and Tyler were surprised to see it was Pete. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. “How many times have I heard you say that, our dearest leader?”

“Pete,” Dallon started, but Tyler grabbed his arm.

“You’re right, but I’m serious. Here, I’ll give you a quick little demo.” Everyone watched closely as Tyler took a few steps back and allowed Blurry to take control. Red filled his eyes and the crowd let out a gasp.

“No, no, it’s okay. Tyler’s gonna come right back,” he promised with a clasp of his hands. One deep breath later and Tyler was back to normal. He looked over at Pete whose mouth was wide open.

“Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.” a smirk rose to his lips. “Any more questions?”

“Are you taking over as leader?” Jack asked as he raised an eyebrow. He didn’t seem like he thought Tyler was capable of that.

“Uhm...” he looked over at Dallon, who gave a sharp nod.

“Look guys, Tyler’s been the leader since the beginning. I was just filling in until he got better. Give or take, I expected it to be a lot longer, but this is good.”

“And I’m not planning on changing anything Dallon’s already figured out. He’s good with this kind of stuff. I’m just going to add on,” Tyler continued. “But I regret to inform that we had another member of our clan go missing. Josh.” At the mention of his name, the crowd filled with murmurs. Dallon shushed them.

Tyler had to swallow before speaking again. “According to inside sources, we think that Brent’s clan might be using him as one of their human test subjects.”

“What?” Pete stood up from the wall in a panic.

“We don’t know if it’s true or not,” Dallon assured, but nobody was buying it.

“He’s the one that gave himself up,” Mikey whispered, causing Dallon to shoot him a glare. Tyler ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh.

“He wasn’t thinking.”

“Are you being for real here?” Pete was on the edge of exploding in anger. “He was going to let them experiment on him?”

“Now is not the time to talk about this.”

“I think it’s a perfect time to talk about this. You’re telling me that our people got captured to use for his shitty experiments and Josh was going to let them do whatever the fuck they wanted to him. Did he know what they were doing? They are taking our DNA and putting it into humans. How fucking messed up is that?”

“How hard do you think it must have been for him to live with us? He’s a human, we are not. You can’t tell me the idea didn’t cross his mind.”

People kept whispering, and it was making Tyler mad.

“Brent probably threatened him. And he did bring up a valid point for why he wanted to do it.” Dallon was trying to help Tyler and Pete wasn’t having it.

“Oh yeah? What could that possibly be?”

“Me,” whispered Tyler, and that got Pete to shut up. He stared at Tyler, mouth stuck and at a loss of words.

“He said he wanted to be able to take care of Tyler. Now you think Pete, you know you would do anything to be able to make Patrick’s life easier.” Dallon commented.

Pete growled. “Don’t you dare bring Patrick into this.”

“But it’s true.” Spencer pushed forward from the back and crossed his arms. “We’ve all lost people. And I would do anything for Brendon.”

“I’d do anything for Alex,” Jack added quietly from his slumped position. Pete’s jaw was clenched.

“You aren’t the only one who had a significant other get taken. And look, Gabe and Joe are gone too and we are going to get all six of them back safe and sound, understand?” Pete stared angrily at Tyler before huffing out of the room. Tyler shrugged. “Moving on.”

“What do you think they’re doing to everyone?” Lynn chimed in.

“Bad stuff,” Mikey answered. “They don’t care about anyone.”

“What about Josh?” that was Hayley this time. Keegan had an arm around her shoulders, as she looked very concerned.

Mikey sighed and rolled his shoulders. “Even worse stuff.”

“Nobody can know exactly until we get there. And I know Dallon already talked about some stuff but I’m here to make sure everything is set in progress. We have these little earpieces everyone is going to get. We can discuss channels when the time comes. But I want everyone in groups. According to Mikey, that place is huge and nothing like ours, so we need to be careful. They have the upper hand.” Tyler let out a breath and began wringing his hands. He tried to focus on the back wall behind the crowd. “We have to go at night. There’s going to be a lot of people there, and we have to let out every single trapped person. The people that are patrolling, you need to do whatever is necessary. Even if that means kill.”

“Kill? Tyler we can’t-” Tyler waved a hand at Dallon’s nervous expression.

“I mean it. They took seven of our people and hurt them. They’ve taken so many of their own kind and tortured and abused them. That is not okay. I don’t care if it is in the name of science, it’s fucking screwed up. We are doing whatever means necessary to get everyone free. I know I’m not the best leader, and I know I haven’t been the best example around here. Most of my life has been ruled by fear. But I mean it when I say all of you are my family. You are all important to me and I can’t lose anymore of you. I am ready to take back my life, save my people, and kick some fucking ass.”

Spencer stepped next to Tyler. He placed a hand on his shoulder with a small smile. “I’m with you.”

Jack stepped forward too. “Me too.”

One by one, everyone mumbled their agreements. Tyler grinned.

“Alright then. Then this is really happening.”

“Damn right it is.” Dallon was grinning too.

“We leave next week. Everyone needs to be ready.”

“Yes sir.” Spencer saluted.

“Then that’s it. We are getting our fucking people back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those of you who got my Les Miserables reference, I love you.
> 
> Also, if there are any artists out there, I'm just thinking of Josh looking like he does in that photo shoot him and Tyler did towards the beginning of the Blurryface fiasco with demon eyes, and uh, yeah. Anyways.


	18. 018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways, here's an apology in advance.  
> You are all going to hate me.

Three days had passed.

Josh was unconscious for all of them.

It took a long while for his chemical makeup to change, but Boyd spent two long days doing everything Brent screamed at him to do until he was satisfied. They had to spend a day allowing him to cool off, because his body was too hot to touch and they didn’t want to risk messing anything up.

While he was cooling off, Lou Vecchio was doing some things to Josh’s brain. He could change what people thought, could alter their emotions, make them an expert at almost anything, etc. In Josh’s case, he was removing the memory of speech, as Brent believed it was unnecessary to have Josh speak in case something in his “programming” went wrong. Josh also got all emotions wiped. He had a layout of the building put in his brain along with all the needed memories such as names. Vecchio also put some brief knowledge of Josh’s new skills based off of past talents with similar powers.

On revealing day, Brent had his main trio there with him: Constanza, Boyd, and Vecchio. They would be in charge of helping Josh adapt to his new environment and give him instructions.

“None of you can call him Josh, understand? From now on he’s Firestorm. This is our project and he isn’t the person he was before. He’s supposed to be a heartless killer capable of much more than us. You need to be careful around him.” Brent explained as he peered into the chamber where Josh was currently laying. His skin now gave off this yellow glow and he was still too hot to touch. Vecchio had promised his body temperature would drop after he woke up and realized where he was.

“He shouldn’t hurt any of us of course,” Vecchio promised. “I said we were his friends and teammates. So.”

“But just in case. Just realize he’s extremely dangerous.” Brent clasped his hands together. “Boyd? You want to do the honors?”

Boyd rolled his eyes but adjusted the collar of his leather jacket and went to go open the door. Brent pulled on his arm.

“Almost forgot.” He pulled a grey T-shirt, a pair of black jeans and a clean pair of boxers off the counter and shoved them into his hands. “He’s going to want to put clothes on. Tell him there’s a bathroom in the back corner.”

Boyd scoffed. “Right, dangerous. Ok, sure.”

“Don’t question him David,” Chrissy warned. She was terrified of what Josh was going to end up like.

“He is dangerous Boyd. I’m serious.” Vecchio was staring at him with a very grim expression.

“I’m good guys, don’t worry.” He assured them before closing the door to the chamber. After putting the clothes to the side, he took a deep breath before gently placing a hand on the side of Josh’s head. They were right; he was incredibly warm. Boyd was proud of his work.

Josh woke up in a gasp of air, his hand immediately wrapping around Boyd’s wrist tightly. David grunted as his grip tightened. Josh stared at him, emotionless.

“I’m your friend,” Boyd managed to spit out. He felt his wrist crack. “I’m here to help you!” Josh let go, leaving David to struggle to breathe as he rolled around on the floor with his now broken wrist pulled closely to his chest. Josh looked around the room in a panic. He noticed Brent, Chrissy, and, Vecchio, he remembered, Lou Vecchio, staring at him. He narrowed his eyes. What were they staring at?

Brent pushed open the door, his hands outstretched in front of him. “Hey there, how are you feeling?”

Josh tilted his head. Brent cleared his throat. “Uhm, there’s a bathroom over there so you can change. We can give you a radio too and go over assignments.”

Josh nodded. his eyes drifted away from Brent to his hands. One curled into a fist, but he looked confused to why nothing was happening. Brent crouched down between David (who was still whimpering on the floor) and Josh.

“Don’t worry, we will get that pesky collar off of you and then you’ll be able to use your powers freely.” He moved to help Boyd while Josh pushed himself off the cement flooring and went to the bathroom to change.

The three were gathered at a table when Josh came out of the chamber. Chrissy was helping to dress Boyd’s fractured wrist and Brent was nervously tapping his fingers on the table top. They all stared at Josh when he came out. Chrissy let out a noise of satisfaction, earning a loud groan from David.

Josh tilted his head up and pointed to his neck.

“Right, of course.” Brent pointed to Vecchio. “Get that off of him.”

With a nod he pulled a small pin out of his pocket and approached cautiously with Josh staring at him with dead eyes. They all felt uneasy around him.

Josh flinched when Vecchio unlocked the collar. Their skin made contact and Vecchio pulled away with a hiss while Josh pulled it off and cracked his neck. He curled a fist again, watching as it burst into flame.

“God, his skin is hot!” Vecchio commented, his hand curled against as chest. Brent let out a cheer.

“We did it! We finally did it! Operation Firestorm is a success!”

At the mention of Firestorm, Josh glared over at Brent. His eyes narrowed and the flame went out.

“Do you understand what you are?”

Josh nodded.

“Good. You’re Firestorm. God, you are beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.”

“You’re a hundred percent correct on that part.” Chrissy leaned forward on her elbows, staring at Josh with a large amount of lust. Josh looked over at her. “Does he still know he’s gay? Because it would be nice to pretend he’s my boyfriend for awhile.”

Vecchio scoffed. His hand was starting to blister where it had made contact with Josh’s skin. “I don’t think I changed anything regarding sexuality. But he doesn’t know what love is, so good luck pretending.”

“He’s so hot,” she swooned.

“Alright Constanza, back off for a little while, okay? You can play with him later. I call dibs first.” Brent cracked his knuckles. “I want to make sure he’s going to do his job effectively. We need to do some tests.”

Josh was still peering curiously at the four of them. He moved like a robot.

Brent pointed to a metal folding chair leaning against the back wall. "Break it.” Josh nodded his head sharply before turning on his heel and making his way back. He took it in his hands and pushed, creating a loud groaning noise and it twisted in on itself in seconds. They all stared in shock.

“What have we done?” Vecchio muttered under his breath. Brent shushed him.

“Are you going to obey everything I tell you to do?”

Josh nodded. Brent let out a loud laugh. He couldn’t believe this was happening. “Constanza?” at the mention of her name, Chrissy stood up from the table. “I need you to fix his eye makeup. That was good. Fix his hair too. Vecchio, I need you to go get him a radio. We are taking him to visit Urie.”

Vecchio’s eyes widened. “Sir, I don’t think that’s a good idea. They are friends, he’s going to call him Jo-” he stopped himself from finishing as Josh’s eyes met his. Vecchio swallowed uncomfortably. “You know what he’s going to call him. What if-”

“We need to make sure he can do every single thing we say. That means torturing. He can do Urie’s DNA fragmenting today. It will be a good test.”

“He’s going to kill him.” Surprisingly, that was Boyd that said that. He seemed afraid. And if David Boyd was afraid, you knew something was seriously wrong.

“You guys need to stop being so worried. He’s fine. Look at him.” Josh dropped the twisted hunk of metal to the floor and took two strides over to be face to face with Brent. He was shorter than him, but Josh still managed to look intimidating.

“How hard would it be to make him talk?”

“Not hard at all. Why?” Vecchio raised an eyebrow and stared in suspicion.

“Hmm.” Brent rubbed the back of his neck, taking a few steps away from Josh’s gaze. “I’m just thinking.”

“Whatever you want boss.” Vecchio stood up. “I’ll go get the radio. Boyd, come with me. I’ll drop you off at the infirmary.” The two left.

Josh backed away from Brent and stared at Chrissy instead. She cleared her throat and looked away, letting her long hair cover a majority of her face.

“Do what I asked,” Brent demanded with a wave of his hand. “I’ll be back.”

Then there were two.

Chrissy looked up again to see Josh still staring at her and went back to looking at her sneakers. She could feel her face turning red. Why was she nervous around him now?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and a small squeak escaped her mouth. Chrissy fell out of her chair and to the floor in surprise.

Josh continued to stare with a confused expression on his face, eyes squinting. Chrissy had to admit, it made it look very cute. He crouched down next to her and offered a hand. She was wary. He wasn’t supposed to help, or have any sort of emotion, but yet here he was.

Chrissy was surprised that his hand wasn’t the equivalent of sticking her hand in a oven. He felt warm, like a blanket wrapped around two people. It was nice.

Josh pointed to the counter when they were both back on their feet. Chrissy cleared her throat again. “Uh yeah. Of course.” Josh followed her over and sat down in the chair he previously had sat in. Chrissy had a nervous feeling in her chest. She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to be a part of this anymore.

“Jo-, I mean, Firestorm,” her nose scrunched up in disgust because honestly it was stupid to call him that, “I know you can’t reply but I’m just going to talk to you anyways.” She was removing the smeared red off his face with a warm cloth and Josh had his eyes closed. He looked peaceful. Chrissy wasn’t sure if that was good. “I’m starting to question my place here. I’ve been here for a while, and I’ve trusted Brent and everything, but I don’t know. You were a good person, and now...” she trailed off, not wanting to be the result of any oncoming flood of memories that would cause something extremely bad to happen.

Josh’s eyes shot open. He pointed to the hair gel resting on the counter.

Chrissy matched him with an eye roll. “I’m getting to it, jeez. Hold on.” She exchanged the washcloth for the gel and went to work taming his wild hair. He let air escape his lips.

“You’re a weird one. And you don’t even realize what’s going on.” Chrissy shook her head sadly. Josh shrugged.

Vecchio beat Brent to the room. He carried a tiny earpiece in his hand and slammed it down on the counter before leaning against it. Eyes wandered to Josh, who was now having red eye makeup applied to his dark eyes. They were extremely freaky, he decided.

“I don’t feel good about this Chrissy.”

“I don’t feel good about this either.” she placed the brush gently down on the counter and placed both hands on her hips. “Brent is in over his head here.”

“Do you think his clan is going to come over here? Try and get their people?”

“I know one of their own escaped. He probably went back home if I had to guess. So I’m going to go with yes.” Chrissy exhaled loudly and pushed hair out of her face, leaving a red streak across her forehead. Josh tugged on her arm and pointed to his own forehead. Vecchio watched curiously as she rubbed the makeup off her face.

“Why is he being helpful?”

Chrissy shrugged. “I asked myself the same question. You did the programming, not me.”

He murmured, “That doesn’t seem right. I didn’t, I should have made sure...”

“I don’t think I want to do this anymore.”

“I don’t blame you.” Vecchio rubbed at his eyes and made a move to speak, but was interrupted by Brent’s loud entrance.

“Things going good guys?” he asked as he came to examine Josh. Brent smiled, obviously satisfied. “Very good Constanza.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” Vecchio started, but Brent blew him off with a eyeroll.

“Don’t start this shit. It’s happening, with or without you. I can throw you in a cell just as easily as the rest of them.”

He bit his lip to avoid responding with a snarky ass comment.

Brent tugged on Josh’s arm and he stood up. “Come on team, we have matters to attend to.” Brent began walking, but nobody was following him. Not even Josh. He swiveled back around with annoyance in his step.

Josh looked down at Chrissy before sliding his hand into hers. She almost gasped in shock. Brent threw a fit.

“Why is he DOING THAT?” He was yelling loudly, causing Vecchio to shrink on the spot.

“I don’t know sir, he’s not supposed to be doing that, I made sure-”

“I don’t fucking care what you made sure of, fucking fix it before I have him kill you.”

“Yes sir.” he swallowed loudly before closing his eyes. Josh tore his hand away in seconds, stumbling backwards. One hand raised to his head as pain flashed across his face.

“What are you doing to him?” hysteria was creeping into her voice in a panicked flurry. Chrissy tried to move closer to him but Brent was shoving her away.

“Don’t go near him. You are both ruining everything. He isn’t supposed to feel, he’s a fucking weapon. Let him do his job.”

Josh had found his stability. He stood up straight, eyes even deader than they had been before.

Chrissy wanted to cry.

“Now I would suggest you follow my instructions clearly before I have you both thrown in a cell and tortured. Vecchio, give him his fucking radio.”

“Y-Yes sir.” he tossed the small earpiece in Josh’s direction who caught it with one hand. He placed it in his ear. Brent raised a hand to his own.

“Can you hear me?”

Josh nodded. Brent responded with a evil grin.

“Fantastic. Let’s carry on then. Firestorm, if you would do the honors.” Josh began making his way down the hallway, Brent following proudly while the other two followed with great fear. They didn’t want to see what Josh was about to do. Knowing they had been apart of this made them sick to their stomaches.

The three of them hung back around the corner while Josh continued to Brendon’s cell. Brendon was asleep when Josh arrived; he kept fidgeting in his sleep like he was having a nightmare.

“Ok,” Brent’s voice crackled over the radio, “In your pocket you’ll find a small glass side and pocket knife. Take whatever you need and don’t be afraid to have a little fun. He’s a bad man. The code is 54678.”

Josh inputted the code, causing Brendon to jolt awake. He looked around in a panic, sighing with relief once he saw Josh, but it didn’t last long.

“Josh? What happened? Why are you-” he stopped talking when Josh’s hands lit up in flames. His dark eyes glowed orange with heat. “Oh my god. No. Nononononononono. Josh, NO!” He ignored Brendon’s pleads and moved closer until he had him cornered. One of his hands gripped Brendon’s arm, which set fire to his jacket. His screams increased in volume once the flames reached his skin.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!” He yelled as loudly as he could, tears streaming down his face. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM?”

Josh grinned, evil filling his eyes. He extinguished the flames and slid the knife out of his pocket. Brendon was still screaming at his touch and the now blackened blisters forming on his right arm. Josh began cutting and slicing skin off.

The neighbours of nearby cells watched with wide eyes, hands gripping the bars tightly. They look terrified.

“This is what you have to look forward to!” Brent shouted with a small giggle following. He spun in a circle in the middle of the hallway. “We were successful! Look what we made you fuckers! You are all going to die, suffer, and this is why.”

Josh hadn’t even batted an eyelash at causing Brendon, someone he called his friend, pain. Brendon was pleading, sobbing, screaming, and Josh simply didn’t care. He was doing his job.

Once he was satisfied, he shoved Brendon’s body to the side. Brendon immediately puked out what little he had of food and a shitton of stomach acid, still screaming and sobbing. Josh closed the cell door and gave what DNA he had gathered to Brent. Brent cackled again.

“You’re beautiful, so goddamn beautiful.”

Chrissy and Vecchio watched in horror. Chrissy wanted to puke herself.

“This is so bad,” she whispered, fear lacing her words thickly. Vecchio shook his head in agreement.

It was several times worse than bad.

They had truly created a monster.

 ---

 

“He’s evil straight to the core,” Brent chuckled happily as he rubbed his palms together. “I can’t believe we did that. I made him. Our own personal weapon. We are going to change the world.”

Josh was outside patrolling the building right now. Brent had thought about letting him go take more people, but Josh wasn’t ready for that. He had just been born today, technically.

Brent was talking to Boyd, who seemed a lot more okay with the idea of Josh being a weapon than Constanza or Vecchio.

Boyd scoffed. “You can’t take all the credit. I am the one who labored for two days straight. That’s a lot of radioactivity.”

“Of course. It wouldn’t have been a success without you.” Brent smiled. He felt so free today, (which in retrospect was pretty fucked up). “We need to make sure every single person in this facility sees him. They need to know.”

“How do you even know if he’s going to do what you ask if he’s mute?”

“I have a good feeling. I, we, are his masters, his creators, of course. He has to do what we say.”

“You’re telling me I can boss him around too?”

“Be my guest.”

“I like you Wilson.” Boyd smiled before raising his non broken hand to his ear. “Boyd requesting radio transmission to Dun.” Brent shot him a look and Boyd rolled his eyes. “Excuse me, _Firestorm_. Thank you. Look mate, I’m gonna need you to meet me in cell block D.” Boyd clicked off with a satisfied sigh. “He better listen.”

“Oh he will. And you better go, he’s already there.”

“Right. Speed.” he muttered under his breath before standing up. He waved goodbye and made his way down the hallway.

Josh was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed when Boyd arrived. He stood up straight when he noticed his arrival.

“Good to see you. You’re going to help me today. We are going to have some fun.” Josh nodded his head and followed him down the hallway. People stared at the two of them in fear. They stopped when they stood right outside an empty cell.

Mikey’s old cell, in fact.

Boyd turned towards Patrick, who was cowering against the inside wall. He had his hands pulled up to his chest and his breathing was shallow.

Patrick was soaked head to toe in blood.

“This is label 27-F: Stump, Patrick. You’ve met him before. Anyways, he’s kind of an asshole, so I want you to hurt him.”

Josh’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t notice.

Patrick looked up at the noise of his cell opening. His eyes widened when he noticed who it was. Immediately they turned gold.

Josh’s fists exploded with flames, and Patrick’s face filled with fear. He moved quickly to the back wall of the cell. Josh followed him.

“Get him good,” Boyd called from outside his cell. He was grinning.

Patrick shook his head, kept mouthing _no_ , but Josh didn’t seem to notice. And he couldn’t say anything back to him of course.

Patrick’s screams echoed throughout the entire hallway.


	19. 019

 "I can’t do this anymore.” Chrissy exclaimed as she flopped down onto her bed. She tore the earpiece out and tossed it across the room, watching as it bounced off the wall and disappeared under a chair. Vecchio sighed as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “I didn’t know, I didn’t fucking understand,” she paused to blow hair out of her face, “that was his friend Lou! He melted his friend's skin off! Who the fuck does that? We helped do that to him! I can’t do this.” Chrissy shuddered, that stupid feeling she was about to cry creeping into her throat.

“What do you suggest we do? If we even try and defy Brent, we are going to be thrown into cells of our own.” he slid his own earpiece into his pocket.

“We are supposed to be telling Josh what to do. We are supposed to continuously be around him and I don’t know how much more of this heartless shit I can take. You need to do something.”

“I can’t do anything! Brent’s going to know. I can’t change any of this.”

“Can’t you talk to him? Josh could pretend. He could get out, and we could say he wouldn’t listen to us. We could lie.”

“We wouldn’t get away with it. Brent is evil, we all know that. But Chrissy, we agreed to do this.”

“That was before I figured out what he was planning on using Josh for!” she choked down a sob. “God, he was a human! Nothing but your ordinary human. Brent would tell us about him and he sounded so fascinating. He had a life, friends, and we helped turn him into this monster! He doesn’t deserve that! Not at all. We have to do something.”

“I know we do, and trust me, I don’t agree with this either. We got involved in something we didn’t know much about. But even if I did do anything, he’s going to have to get used to everything new. He can’t go back. So what?”

She was quiet for a brief moment before an idea came into her head. It was risky, but it might work. “What if we went and talked to his clan?”

Vecchio’s mouth dropped. “Are you crazy?”

“They’re most likely planning to come here and save their people. I’d be damned if I didn’t think they would rescue everyone else trapped in this place. I used to be able to just hurt people, and now, I can’t even fathom...” her voice trailed off as Lou sighed again.

“So what’s your plan? We go give them inside information? How are we going to introduce ourselves? Hey what up, I’m Lou, I helped break in and kidnap your people and I helped turn your friend into a monster! Trust me!”

“We will explain as best as we possibly can. Apologize. Tell them everything we know. We have to do this Lou, we have to try and help them. Maybe Josh’s boyfriend can help him snap out of it. You can help too. I know you can.”

“The longer he has no feelings, the harder it’s going to be for me to change things.” Vecchio rubbed his neck in regret. “We might be too late as it is. He’s been that way for a few days now. We’ve seen what he’s been doing. The guy doesn’t care.”

“We did that to him.” Chrissy bunched her blanket up in her hands. “I’m going, with or without you.”

“I’m going with you. I’m just as guilty. Besides, I had a lot more to do with it than you did. The only crime you committed with Josh was his terrible haircut.”

She rolled her eyes and wiped the smearing makeup out from under them. “We gotta go when the right time presents itself. They need to know as soon as possible.”

“So in other words, we are going to casually stroll right up to their front doorstep and knock! Don’t worry, we aren’t here to kill you!”

“Stop it. They’ll understand.”

“Or they’ll kill us right on the spot. For Christ’s sake, one of their people had not only his tongue cut out, but his hand sliced off. None of our coworkers are the best people Chrissy. We are pretty horrible as well.”

“We’ll explain! That’s all we can do. We just gotta hope.”

He exhaled loudly. “Okay, okay. Then we’ll leave as soon as possible. You’ll meet me at the far left exit at midnight. I’ll put whoever is on patrol in a daze while you unlock the door and slip out.”

Chrissy nodded. “Okay, that sounds good. And we will be back before morning. Nobody will even know. It’s all good.”

“Risky, but good.”

 

\---

 

“I can’t get a read on Josh anymore,” Dallon was in a panic as he burst into Tyler’s office. It was getting to be extremely close to when they were preparing to leave, and everyone was in a frenzy. Tyler had spent the past couple of days looking at the map Dallon had spent weeks working on.

He looked up from said map with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

“Exactly what I said. I can’t get anything from him. It’s like he doesn’t even have emotions. But that, that can’t happen to a person, can it? Unless...” his eyes widened. “Unless they did something to him.”

“You can’t just remove emotions from someone,” Tyler replied with a scoff. Eyes wandered back down to the map. He placed a finger to his lips, his other hand circling a possible back entrance. Then Tyler sighed when he pulled his finger away and realized he now had a faint trace of black on his lips. Damn that paint.

“I can’t read emotions on someone who is dead.”

“Don’t say that. He’s not...” Tyler hesitated, twisting his fingers together. His voice came out in a whisper. “dead.”

“I know we are trying to stay positive on this, but we are heading out in like three days and we might need to accept the facts that not everyone is going to be in good condition.”

“Well obviously. But no one wants to think about it.” Tyler tilted his head slightly, one hand twitching in his lap. He raised it to his throat. “Who do you think would be good in a group together?”

“Don’t change the subject.” Dallon was stern. “You’re going to need to know you won’t be able to save everyone.”

“I know perfectly well I won’t be able to. But look, besides fighting we are going to have to let all these people out and figure out if they have a clan or need one. Because they can come here. There is plenty of room.”

“We can have someone ready to start leading the others away.”

“Yeah. That’s good. Mikey and Gerard maybe. I’m going after Brent.”

“You can’t go after him yourself.”

“I’ll bring others with me. But I call him. He’s dead.” Tyler squeezed a fist, eyes focusing on set of tally marks carved into the wall. “You’re going to have to be careful around me, because I’m going to be spending most of the time as the other guy. I need to be strong.”

“You are strong. You aren’t considering just killing everyone you see, are you?”

“So what if I am?”

“Dude.” Dallon sighed. “You can’t just-”

“I think they have a pretty good reason to die. Besides, I can’t do much as myself anyways. What am I going to do? Bring flowers back to life?”

“Well I mean you are pretty strong Tyler. Physically. You work out a lot.”

“That doesn’t matter. I need to be stronger. Every single one of those people that hurt someone, dead. They’re dead. I don’t care what you or anyone says. This ends now.”

“Is this about Josh?” asked Dallon softly. Tyler shot him a look that screamed ‘I’m going to kill you.’

“Why are you assuming this is about Josh?”

“Well, I mean, he’s not going to be the same person. You know that much at least, right?”

Instead of answering, Tyler picked up a pen and began rolling it between his fingers. He raised it to his lips and bit down on the cap.

“For all we know he could be locked in a cell with the rest of the humans. But the chances of him being himself is very unlikely. He’s going to be somewhat different. Traumatized maybe. Not wanting to talk for a few days. Wanting to hide away.”

“I’m sure most people are going to feel that way.” The pen dropped back down onto the desk and Tyler leaned forward on his elbows. “I think I want you to stay outside. You’re going to need to do everything you can for Patrick and anyone else that’s injured.”

“I can’t grow back any limbs,” Dallon said solemnly. He raked fingers through his hair. “But I’ll do the best I can.”

“How are we even going to find them? This place is huge.” Tyler pushed against the back of his chair. “This is going to be a mess.”

“Yeah, they definitely have the upper hand. But we-” Dallon’s sentence was cut short as Mikey appeared in the room, eyes wide and hair a mess. He cleared his throat.

“Intruders,” he managed to spit out. His breathing was irregular. “A girl and a guy. We put them in the holding room, but I don’t know what they are doing. They asked for you.” Mikey pointed to Tyler, who placed a hand on his chest.

“Well that’s new,” he muttered as he stood up. Dallon followed and the three of them went upstairs and down the hallway to the little room Pete had put cracks in so long ago. Inside sat a dark haired girl and a scruffy tall guy, both secured to chairs. The girl was grinning.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Joseph.”

Tyler narrowed his eyes and waved a hand behind him. Mikey disappeared immediately while Dallon hung back, looking wary.

“I’ll be fine,” Tyler promised. He waved his hand again, and with a shaky sigh Dallon closed the door. Tyler swung back around to face the girl, who was still smirking. The guy looked worried.

“Okay, start talking before things get bad.” Tyler cracked his knuckles, trying to be intimidating, but if he was being completely honest with himself, he was just as worried.

“My name is Chrissy Constanza and this is Lou Vecchio. We uhm, work for Brent Wilson.” her voice got significantly quieter at the end of the sentence and Tyler’s eyes lit up in surprise. He clenched a fist, anger starting to bubble in his chest. These were the people hurting his friends, his family.

The people hurting Josh.

“But look, we fucked up. He helped us get better, invited us in to his home, and in exchange we had to work. We didn’t realize then what he was truly doing.” Lou added, trying to pull up on his restraints. He seemed really nervous now that it was blatantly obvious Tyler was pissed with the news.

“But we want to help you guys. We want to do everything we can to make sure Brent gets stopped. He’s out of control.” Chrissy looked at the ground, not wanting to meet Tyler’s eyes. She looked extremely guilty.

“How can I trust you guys? I mean, you knew where we lived. So that’s already one shady thing.”

“We know where all your people are. We have access to the codes to get into their cells and into the building. We know where Brent will be, where all the patrols will be, where the humans are. We know everything.” Lou looked right at Tyler, eyes hopeful Tyler would agree to work with them. “My powers can be helpful too.”

“Mine as well. Please Mr. Joseph, you gotta trust us here. We are throwing our lives on the line. If Brent finds out, we are dead.”

Tyler sighed loudly. “One, stop calling me that. Call me Tyler. Two, I just-”

“Please Tyler, please. Josh, things aren’t looking good for him.” Chrissy was starting to cry. She looked broken, which got Tyler to sigh again and bite his lip.

“What’s going on with Josh?” He prepared to have his heart sink. _Please let him be alive._

“Brent is fucking psycho,” Lou shook his head. “He wanted Josh so badly for this and wouldn’t let it be anyone else.”

Tyler moved over, his hands gripping Lou’s arms as he leaned closer. “Tell me what the fuck is going on with Josh.”

“He turned him into one of us,” Chrissy said quickly, all her words jumbled together. She blinked, trying to get tears out of her eyes.

Tyler shifted back, crossing his arms once more. His eyes flickered to red. Both Chrissy and Lou stared in fear. They had heard things weren’t good when his eyes turned red.

“I want you to tell us every single thing that has happened to Josh. Right now. Or we won’t hesitate to kill both of you.”

“Operation Firestorm,” Lou started, glancing between Chrissy and Tyler. Chrissy nodded.

“We’ve been trying for years to successfully make a human like us. Years. It happens in phases. Most die after phase one or two. But Josh survived both. Phase one are the basics for our species. Hearing and eyesight.”

One of Tyler’s hands twitched.

“Phase two... Brent was trying to create a soldier. He wanted to turn Josh into a soldier. So strength,”

“And speed.” Lou finished. Tyler was standing there, fueled by rage, letting Blurry handle all the dirty work. He spontaneously turned around and slammed a fist into the metal wall, right next to a crack Pete had made. The wall was cool when he leaned his forehead against it, eyes draining back to brown. Josh was not okay, he was far from okay. Dallon was right.

“Phase three,” demanded Tyler, his teeth gritted. He needed to know every single thing.

“Little stuff,” Chrissy started, her eyes focused on Tyler’s tense stance. “Make him look scary.”

“Dude’s got black eyes. So yeah, he’s a little scary looking.”

Tyler swiveled back around. His eyes were red again, and he looked ready to strangle someone with bare hands. Neither one of them blamed him. It was his boyfriend after all. “Phase four. Now.”

“That’s where Operation Firestorm really came in,” Lou was shooting Chrissy worrying looks. “Brent Human Torch’d him.”

“Don’t compare Josh’s life with a fucking comic book character.”

He apologized frantically. “Sorry, sorry. Sorry.”

Chrissy took over, voice just as frantic. “Josh is dead, but he’s not. He’s alive, but he’s not. He’s stuck in a state of Limbo, or at least his molecules are. Brent and a guy named David Boyd basically turned him into pure energy. He’s fire.”

“His skin is extremely hot.” Lou gestured to the ragged row of blisters that crossed his hand where it had come in contact with Josh’s skin. Tyler looked over, his breaths becoming shorter. They weren’t lying.

“Phase Five...” Lou cleared his throat. “Get rid of emotions. Turn him into some sort of robot. He can’t feel anything. He can’t talk. Only obey.”

“He hurt Urie. Didn’t even hesitate, just burned his flesh off, and God...” Chrissy shook her head. “That’s why we came here. You have to help him. You all need to stop Brent before he does that to everyone. That’s his plan. Super soldier every human around.”

Tyler’s eyes were dark again, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t angry anymore. In fact, he looked even more furious. He grabbed a fist full of Lou’s shirt and leaned in once more so they were an inch apart. “How the fuck do you get rid of someone’s emotions?”

Lou gulped, eyes looking everywhere but Tyler. “Programming. I can-”

That was all Tyler needed to hear before he was punching him right in the nose. He hit him again, and again, until Chrissy was begging him to stop. Blood was streaming down his face and his nose was already starting to purple.

“You fucking asshole, you did this to him and you have the fucking nerve to come here?”

“He was only doing what he was asked!” Chrissy argued, her own hands clenching into fists as she pulled up. “We are trying to avoid getting killed ourselves Tyler, because Brent is already heartless and he doesn’t care.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, and I want to do everything I can to help him get out. Please. You have to see that I know I fucked up and I want to help.”

“Things are only going to get worse Tyler, not only for him but for everyone there. We only want to help. Especially help Josh.” Chrissy looked at him with pleading eyes. “You have to trust us. We will do anything to make up for what we were apart of.”

Tyler placed both his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. Josh was dying, Josh was already dead, Josh needed help, Josh was evil, Josh, Josh, Josh.

_You can kill them later Ty, but as for now, they are a pretty valuable asset to our team. They can get us inside. You can get Josh._

He was right. But Tyler still didn’t trust them. They had helped torture and kidnap and kill for years and years, and them just now wanting to help didn’t make them any better.

_You both have the same enemy. It’s just like us._

Tyler let a sigh escape his lips as he his hands fell to the sides and his eyes opened. “Okay. Okay, we can work together. But I’m getting Brent all to myself. He’s dead and I’m going to make sure he stays that way.”

“Of course,” Chrissy nodded. She pulled again. “Anything. We will do anything you ask.”

Tyler pulled his knife out of his pocket and sliced through their ties. While they regained feeling in their wrists, Tyler yanked open the door to pull a still worried Dallon inside.

“Fix Vecchio for me, will you? Lost my temper.” Tyler shrugged as Dallon’s eyes narrowed, but yet he still went over to heal him. Chrissy was twisting her hands, her face masked with enough worry for four people. Tyler gently laid a hand on her shoulder and she flinched, jumping away from him.

“Sorry,” she breathed, but Tyler only forced a smile.

“No, uh, sorry to scare you. I just, were you, uh...” he awkwardly scratched at the stubble on his chin (it had been a while since he had shaved, he had been preoccupied) as he thought of how to phrase his sentence. “Did you spend time with Josh?”

“Oh.” her voice was tiny, not wanting to project louder than it had too. “Uh, I was on the ‘study Joshua Dun committee,’ to see if he was the right candidate. It was dumb really. But besides that, I only spent a couple days with the real him. And then I, well, Lou and I, had to hang around the new him. I was kind of a dick to him I think. I acted too flirtatious, probably made him uncomfortable. But I would never do a single thing to hurt him, I promise. He’s nice. He was a nice person, he did what he was told, he helped and I’m so sorry.” she was crying again, and Tyler wrapped his arms around her in comfort. It seemed she really didn’t understand what was going on, just got wrapped up in some bad business.

“It’s okay, I understand. Just following orders. We are going to get them back.” Chrissy nodded into his shoulder.

“You’re a lot different than Brent made you out to be,” she replied once they had pulled away. “I mean, I didn’t think he was being truthful, but you’re okay. I wish we could have met on different terms.”

“You’re more than welcome to join us if you want. Our group.”

“That’s very nice. Yeah. I’d like that.” Tyler nodded his head, satisfied.

“We’ll get a meeting going with everyone. It’s late, but better than nothing. Get a plan ready. We were leaving in three days, but now...”

“You might want to leave earlier. Brent’s going to get suspicious.”

Tyler nodded. He held up a finger as to say ‘One second,’ before casually side stepping over to Dallon.

“Meeting,” he stated simply before gesturing Chrissy to follow him out the door. She followed quickly, eyes wandering all around the hallways as Tyler knocked on doors and yelled for everyone to gather in the dining room. People followed him down.

Tyler stood patiently at the front with Chrissy nervously twisting her fingers next to him (funny, he had the same problem) as everyone filed into the room. Some looked wide awake, others looked heavy with sleep. Dallon flashed a reassuring smile as he and Lou came into the room. They stood off to the side.

“So uh,” Tyler started off, his face flushing red for no reason. Everyone was staring at him. “This is Chrissy and Lou.” The two of them gave a quick wave. “They have offered to help us get into the building.”

“What do they know that we don’t?” Jack asked with a raise of his hands. People murmured in agreement.

“They work there. But as double agents. They want to help us take Brent down.”

“We know where your people are,” Chrissy added to the convincement, “We can get you into the building.”

“But they think we should leave earlier. Apparently things aren’t going very well.”

“They were successful with their experiments.” That was Lou this time. “Joshua Dun was the first successful super soldier.” A few gasps escaped the crowd.

“He’s not well,” Tyler said sadly, “but that’s why we need to hurry. So I’m thinking maybe tomorrow night. Are we ready for that?”

“Training says so.” said Lynn.

“I’ve been ready to kick ass since the day Brendon was captured.” Spencer spat out, folding his arms across his chest. Others were mumbling, but everyone seemed to agree.

“Okay. Tomorrow night then. We stay in groups. Jack and Rian,  I want you two together. You’ll be responsible for getting Alex, and letting out as many people as possible.”

“Gaskarth is in Cell Block A,” Chrissy informed. “I can give you the code. That’s my section.”

“Cell Block B has Saporta I’m pretty sure. I can get the code.”

“Hayley and Lynn, you are in charge of that. Mikey, Gerard, and Dallon, I want you to remain outside. Dallon’s gotta heal and you both need to help get everyone heading in the right direction.”

“C’s got Trohman, D has Stump and Urie. Boyd is in charge of D, but I can get the code from him.”

“Pete’s going to want D. Andy and Spencer, you go with him. Frank and Zack can go for C. Keegan, you’re with me.”

“What?” He stared in astonishment at Tyler, who was in fact completely serious.

“We are going after Brent and finding Josh. Josh is apparently the Human Torch now, and you’re the only person here who can survive that much heat. So you’re with me.”

“Oh. Okay then.” Keegan seemed terrified.

“We leave a little after midnight, just like now. We stay in our groups, stay quiet, watch Mikey and Gerard.”

“I can knock the patrollers out for a little while and open the doors. Chrissy and I will be on the lookout for you guys.”

“Gerard can run out before us, give you the go.” Tyler nodded towards Gerard who gave his own willing nod.

Everyone stared at Tyler, waiting for him to say more. It was weird; Tyler had been leader for years and this was the first time he actually felt like he was doing his job. But sadly, with the burden of being the leader meant he had to deal with the sad stuff.

“People are probably going to get hurt. We need to accept that not everyone is going to survive, and people will die. People might already be dead.” He was thinking of Josh. “That’s a part of this. I’m hoping it’s going to be successful, but we have to face the facts. After, things aren’t going to be the same. We will probably have more people with us, and as a family, we will be stronger. But not all of us will survive, most likely. Dallon is going to do his damndest, but he’s only one person.”

“But you can bring people back to life,” someone shouted from the back. Everyone shushed them.

“And we all saw how great that turned out, didn’t we?” he rolled his eyes. “We will get everyone their radios, turn them on and figure out channeling tomorrow. As for tonight, we have to be prepared. This is really happening.” Tyler examined his hands. Everyone was still staring at him. “Everyone ready?”

The crowd assured them that they were in fact, ready.

“Good. That’s it then. Tomorrow.” He turned to face Mikey. “Will you please escort our guests to the front door?”

“Sure thing boss.” Mikey saluted before gently tugging on Lou’s arm. He started following right away.

But Chrissy paused to give him another hug. “Josh is going to be okay,” she whispered in his ear before pulling away and following Mikey down the hallway. Tyler ran fingers through his hair. Dallon took a step closer to him.

“You gonna be alright?”

Tyler shrugged. “I’ll manage. I’m going downstairs. You make sure everyone’s okay, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Dallon laid a hand on Tyler’s shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.

Tyler was quick to go downstairs. The first thing he did was strip out of his clothes into nothing but basketball shorts, and then he went into a room he hadn’t been inside in quite a while. Not since he had met Josh that was.

Electricity flickered when he flipped the switch. Tyler had spent a lot of time in this room in the early years of living here. He’d work out a lot. It was something that he felt like he was in charge of, not the other guy. So he’d lift weights and run and try and forget who he was.

There was a punching bag in the corner of the room that he used a lot as well. And today, Tyler felt he could use that.

After wrapping his hands, he took a deep breath and went to work hitting it as hard as he could. Punch after punch, he thought about Josh getting tortured, shocked, yelled at, turned, hurt. About Josh walking around with no recollection of where he was or how to feel. About Josh hurting people and not knowing what he was doing. He thought about himself, about his childhood, about his life in general, his family, friends, Patrick and Pete raising him, the several times he tried to commit suicide, the people he had killed, the people he was going to kill.

He fuelled all his anger and frustration into his punches, the thought of how nice it would be when he could hit Brent reeling him over the edge.

Nobody, _nobody_ , touched Josh and got away with it.

With one last punch, he slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest. Tyler focused on breathing as he wiped sweat away. That felt good. It had always felt good, but he had forgotten how nice it was.

Round Two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This means war.
> 
> Also as a side note, Keegan Calmes plays kind of a big role next chapter so if you want to educate yourself he comes from a little band called Vinyl Theatre.


	20. 020

Nobody wanted to be around him, much less the same room as him. He was terrifying, always walking around like some metallic piece of machinery, staring with his dead black holes for eyes, hurting people with a grin, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. Everyone avoided him, nobody talked to him unless they absolutely had to. Nobody wanted to befriend a monster.

Except Brent maybe, who always wanted to be around him. Wanted to make sure he was doing okay, that his vitals were good, that he wasn’t going to drop down dead at any given point in time. But nope, Joshua Dun was far from unhealthy. He was the strongest guy in the facility. The fastest. The smartest.

The cruelest.

Unfortunately, Chrissy had to be his chaperone today, and after last nights events, she wasn’t looking forward to it at all. They were on patrol, walking the length of the building to make sure there was no possible way for any intruders. It was a perfect way for Tyler’s group to get in, she decided. All she had to do was leave one door unlocked.

Chrissy wasn’t supposed to talk to Josh unless she was giving him an order, but today she was going to do that anyways. After pulling her long hair into a ponytail, she turned up to look at his emotionless face. Nothing but dead eyes, the usual.

“Do you remember Tyler?”

Josh froze in his tracks, eyes widening. It didn’t take long before he was slamming her against the building, one hand curling around her throat. She clawed at his hand, struggling to breathe. He stared at her with narrowed eyes, head tilted slightly. Like he was studying her.

“Josh,” she sputtered out, knowing perfectly she wasn’t suppose to call him that. “Can’t...breathe...”

His grip tightened. She was going to die if he didn’t let go soon.

“Josh... _please!”_

He finally let go of her, watching as she slumped to the dirt and coughed loudly. Josh didn’t know anyone named Tyler. Was he supposed to?

“I wish you could speak,” she sighed, leaning her head back against the wall. Her breathing was still ragged.

Josh started walking away like nothing happened, going on his way to finish his job. Chrissy let him leave. She couldn’t stand to see him like this, not knowing she helped take part. Not knowing Tyler was coming to get him and Josh didn’t even remember him. Not knowing Josh was going to try and kill Tyler the minute he saw him.

She could make it through the day.

Tonight, everything changed.

 

\---

 

11:59 pm.

Tyler stared at himself in the mirror. Black shirt, black pants, painted hands, painted neck, red eyes. Dark eyes. Red eyes. Then dark eyes again.

He still had it.

He watched himself in the mirror as he pulled a red beanie down over his ears.

Tonight, everything changed.

Everyone was whispering when Tyler came upstairs. His eyes kept flickering and he kept his hands deep in his pockets, making sure to not accidentally brush anyone. Dallon handed him his little radio and he stuck in his ear.

“Channel 2,” stated Dallon simply as he messed with his. It make a loud whining sound, causing everyone to cringe.

“Everyone okay?” Tyler asked, eyes scanning the crowd. Everyone pretty much looked like him, decked out in all black and war paint. Even Pete was ready to go, black smeared under his eyes. Tonight was the night for him. His big moment.

Everyone nodded, and he took a giant breath, taking his time to inhale and exhale through his nose. “Can everyone hear one another?” More nodding.

“What’s the time Dallon?”

“12:05.”

Tyler grinned. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

The crowd cheered as everyone moved into a single file line down the hallway behind Mikey and Gerard. The groups tended to gravitate towards each other, which was good because Tyler had forgotten to mention that before they left. He looked around for Keegan, sighing with relief when he noticed him a little farther down. Truthfully, Tyler didn’t want anyone to come with him. But if what Chrissy and Lou said was true, that Josh’s skin was too hot to touch, he was going to need someone strong to carry Josh back home.

Gerard ran ahead while the rest walked quietly through the woods. A sliver of moonlight shone through cracks in the foliage. It was beautiful out tonight. Under any other circumstances, Tyler might have sat down and enjoyed it.

He could tell everyone was on high alert; you could practically smell the tension.

Mikey’s voice echoed in his right ear. “We’re getting closer. Way, any update for up ahead?”

“I’ve met with Constanza. She’s letting us in through the back right entrance. Hurry, she says. Vecchio has the guards knocked out, but he’s not sure how long he can hold them.”

“They’ll be dead by the time we get to them,” Tyler muttered into his own radio. He started shoving his way to the front to be by Mikey.

“You have an approximate distance for us?”

“It’s about a mile and a half walk. So maybe three fourths of a mile left?” Mikey shuddered. “I never want to see this place ever again after this.”

Tyler patted him on the shoulder. “You won’t have to.”

Gerard was shifting his weight from one foot to another when the group finally arrived. He could see the building from the trees, and was extremely thankful when the rest of the group showed up. Everyone cleared the way for Tyler to move to the front. He kept his voice low.

“Everybody remember their groups?” Everyone nodded. “Good. Barakat, Dawson, you go first.”

“Constanza has all the codes,” Gerard added. “She’ll give you yours.”

Jack and Rian disappeared through the trees.

“Gunn and Williams, you go next.” They were the next to leave.

“Iero and Merrick.” Tyler jabbed a thumb into the trees and they left.

Pete was tugging on Andy’s arm and waving for Spencer before gesturing for them to leave. Tyler grabbed Pete’s arm before he left.

“Be safe, got it?” He nodded, ripping his arm from Tyler’s grasp and continuing on his way.

Tyler sighed. “Okay, Ways and Weekes, you stay here. Look out for people. Calmes, you’re with me. Let’s go." Dallon gave Tyler a solemn nod.

"Please be careful Tyler. Josh is stronger than you now. Remember that."

"Don't worry about me Dallon. Worry about all the broken people you're going to have to help." They both hugged tightly, Dallon's hand finding its way onto the small of Tyler's back.

"Come on Keegan," Tyler ushered him through the woods after saying his goodbyes. A hand went to his ear. "Everyone doing okay?"

"Fantastic!" Jack muttered. It sounded like he had hit someone.

"It's already a mess," Lynn chimed in. Someone yelled on her end.

"Wonderful." Tyler pushed Keegan further towards the building. The door was wide open, the guards still slumped on the floor. He could hear yelling coming from within, people scattering all about. Chrissy was no where to be seen.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Keegan whispered as he followed Tyler through the propped door.

"What gave it away? The screaming or the fighting?" Chrissy was supposed to have taken them to where Josh was, and now she was gone. So that left Tyler to aimlessly wander around until he found him.

"Do you actually want me to be here or am I just the excuse so Dallon got off your back about going alone?"

Tyler scoffed. "Oh come on, I do need you around. Josh is hot. You can deal with that kind of stuff."

"Dude."

Tyler turned around. "What?" Keegan shakily raised a finger to point further down the hallway.

There was a group of men coming down, and none of them looked happy.

Tyler rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, eyes blinking red. A grin rose to his lips. Finally.

They stormed the two of them. It was five against two, but Keegan was handling two of them while Tyler easily killed the three with the palm of his hand. He'd knee them in the stomach and push his hand against their forehead, watching happily as black lines spread throughout their veins with a smile. Keegan had knocked one unconscious, he was struggling with the other one when Tyler reached out and wrapped a hand around his throat. The guy stared with wide eyes, hands grasping at Tyler's grip as the black lines spread up his neck. One went through his eye. His corpse slid to the floor and Tyler dusted off his hands in satisfaction. Keegan gaped at him in horror as Tyler's eyes drained back to brown.

"What?"

"You just killed all of them. All of them."

Tyler pressed his lips together. "Kay. Thanks for the observation. Now come on, we have stuff to do, people to find." He paused to allow Keegan to catch up. "And I didn't kill all of them. You knocked one unconscious."

"But Tyler -"

"They deserve to die!" His voice rose a little too loud, bringing another round of patrollers from around the corner. Tyler rolled his eyes. “You wanna fight or do you want it over with?”

“Over with,” mumbled Keegan as Tyler made his way through the crowd. Keegan followed once every single body laid still on the ground. He gulped, eyes frantically moving in all directions.

A voice crackled over their radio stream. “I found Brendon.” Pete.

“Patrick’s further down Wentz,” Mikey responded with a shaky voice.

“I’ll get Brendon out to Dallon,” Spencer stated. He didn’t sound happy.

“Has anybody seen Constanza? She was supposed to-” Tyler’s phrase was cut short by the rumbling of the building. Tyler gripped the wall behind him, knowing perfectly well what had happened.

“Every last one of them. Dead. EVERY SINGLE ONE!”

The stream was starting to cancel out. Tyler sighed. he should have known.

“Pete, you have to stay calm,” Dallon spoke softly, but Pete wasn’t having it.

“Don’t you fucking tell me to stay calm when Patrick is missing his hand and his tongue. He looks like someone out of a horror movie. You KNEW THIS!”

“Pete please,” Tyler started, watching a crack run down the hallway. The entire building was going to collapse if he didn’t get control back.

“Fuck you Tyler, you knew just as much as Dallon did. I’m going to murder every single fucker in here!”

“Patrick isn’t the only one who’s hurt Pete!” Spencer added to the argument. “Bren’s arm is hurt pretty bad. It’s infected.”

Tyler knew why.

“Get him to me,” Dallon demanded. “Quickly.”

“You’re going to bring the building down Wentz,” Tyler beckoned for Keegan to keep following him as they talked. He killed a couple more people.

“I don’t care. You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Why don’t you get your fucking boyfriend out of the building and shut up? There are other people in here we have to get out.”

“Speaking of which, Cell Block A is cleared. Everyone’s leaving now.” Rian’s voice appeared in the mix.

“Alex is okay,” Jack said.

“I’m not leaving until every single person is dead.”

Tyler sighed. “Well Andy isn’t going to be able to carry him,” he paused to slam someone’s head into a wall, “without delivering an electric shock. So take one for the team.”

Another crack ran down the hallway.

Pete growled. “Fine, but I’m coming back in.”

“Have you found Josh yet?” Dallon asked. “Oh, there’s somebody else.”

“That’s Ryan,” he heard Spencer say.

“No sign of Josh yet, but I have no idea where he is.” Tyler’s radio cut out, Dallon’s reply being replaced with static. He tapped it with his fingers, but static was the only thing still playing. He whipped around to face Keegan.

“Is yours working?”

“No. I’m only getting static.”

“Me too.” Tyler sighed again and kicked the wall in frustration. “Okay, so that was short lived.”

Keegan pointed to the wall, where it said Cell Block B in bright red letters. “Isn’t Gabe in this one?”

His answer came when a wave of broken people passed them in the hallway, all making their wall towards the door. In the back was Lynn and Hayley, both their arms draped around Gabe’s shoulders for support. He attempted a grin.

“Hey boss.”

“Radio’s are out,” Lynn said before continuing. Hayley looked at them with concern, but didn’t stop.

“So...” Keegan drew his word out long, eyes moving between the crowd and Tyler. Tyler ran a hand through his hair.

“So we keep moving.”

They ran into two more groups of patrollers as they moved, Keegan allowing Tyler (well, BF technically) to do all the work. Still no sign of Josh. They had seen other groups of prisoners heading towards the exits, but still not the one person Tyler was looking for in the first place. He was getting frustrated.

“Maybe he got away?” Keegan suggested, but it didn’t make any sense.

“I don’t think he left. It wouldn’t make sense for him to leave.” They turned another corner and pressed against the wall to avoid the crowd making its way down.

“Are we just going to keep heading farther back into the building?”

“Yep.” The closer they got to the back, the less people they were running into. Tyler killed a couple more people, avoided a few others. Then a siren went off, red lights flashing.

“Well they’re a little late with that,” Keegan pointed out with a smile. Tyler laughed himself.

“We’re winning.”

And then Tyler turned another corner to see none other than Brent standing at the end of the hall. He seemed to freeze when he noticed Tyler standing at the other end.

Tyler clenched a fist. This was it. The man who had hurt his friends and turned Josh into a monster. The man who had single handedly destroyed his life.

Needless to say, it wasn’t long before Tyler was switching over to Blurryface.

Keegan hung back around the corner, eyes wide.

“I’m going to kill you,” he said simply. Brent let out a laugh.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but you aren’t laying a hand on me.”

“Try and stop me.” He let out a snarl as his footsteps echoed off the walls. Brent’s face looked ominous against the red flashing lights.

“I’ve got my own personal protection Joseph, did you forget that?” He was grinning, more malice coursing through his body than it ever had in Tyler’s.

His pace slowed. _No._

“Tyler, meet Firestorm.” Brent took a few steps back, that stupid evil grin still on his face as none other than Josh appeared next to him. Tyler’s eyes lost colour.

_No no no no no._

Josh looked dead. There was no other way to describe it. There wasn’t one trace of emotion in his face, his eyes bore right into Tyler’s soul and his skin gave off some sort of yellowish tint. He looked tanner, Tyler noted.

But yeah, Josh looked pretty damn evil.

“So I’ll let you kids play.” Brent raised an eyebrow. “Do you fancy a game of hide and go seek?”

“Go fuck yourself,” Tyler growled. He didn’t move.

“Go ahead and kill him. He has no use to me.” Josh nodded his head firmly.

_Shit._

Brent waved goodbye. “Guess I’ll see you around? In pieces maybe?” He laughed bitterly before taking off down the hallway. Josh continued to stare at Tyler with a large amount of curiosity. Tyler wondered if he even still knew who he was.

“This is bad,” Keegan whispered loudly. He looked terrified beyond belief.

“Oh thanks, I thought it looked super great.” Tyler rolled his eyes, but didn’t turn around. He didn’t know what Josh was going to do. He took a step forward, being cautious. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?”

No reply. Josh only continued to stare.

“They say you’re stronger than me. Faster than me. Probably smarter than me. But I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I don’t think he can talk.”

“Thank you so much for your pointless observations Keegan! Now shut up!” Keegan clamped his mouth shut. Tyler took a couple more steps forward.

“I know you’re in there somewhere Josh, please. We can go home. It’s going to be okay.”

Josh growled. His hands lit up in flames.

Tyler blinked, his heart suddenly beating a mile a minute. Josh was made of fire. Right.

Dear God.

Josh was made of fire.

“Okay, so you don’t like me calling you Josh!” Tyler noted, raising his hands in defense. He stepped back while Josh stepped forward. He growled, sending a huge wave of flames Tyler’s way. Tyler threw himself out of the way, his head hitting the wall on the way down. He rubbed it with a groan, noting Keegan was still staring at him in worry.

Josh wasn’t done. He repeated his same action, and once again Tyler had to roll out of the way.

“I don’t want to hurt you Josh! Please! I’m here to help!” He wasn’t listening. Tyler pulled himself up off the floor. He didn’t want to touch Josh, just in case there was that chance Josh would drop to the floor dead instantly, but it looked like that might be his only chance at not dying.

“He doesn’t like when you call him that!” Keegan shouted as Tyler dodged another wave of fire.

“Once again, thank you Keegan!” he muttered. Josh dropped the flame for a second, allowing Tyler to move in close enough to punch him in the face. Except, Josh easily caught Tyler’s fist, crumpling it and flipping him over with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Tyler stared at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath. That had hurt. Lou was right, his skin was hot. But in other news, Josh wasn’t going to die if Tyler touched him, since he technically was already dead. But then that meant somebody else could touch him too. That was going to be last resort.

Tyler popped back up right as Josh went to throw a punch of his own. Tyler ducked, swiveling back behind him to counter his next move.

But his next move was simply grabbed hold of Tyler’s wrist.

It was like he had put his hand on a stovetop burner. He swore he could smell burning flesh. And was that him screaming? He wasn’t sure.

Guess last resort was now.

He allowed Blurry to take over. The pain didn’t bother him. With a smirk, he used his other hand to uppercut Josh directly in the face. Josh stumbled backwards, a hand raising to his now purpling jaw. Guess the new Josh wasn’t really accustomed to pain.

“Come on man, you don’t have to do this!” Josh swung again, managing to hit him in the head. Tyler shook it off, but two seconds later Josh was behind him using a fist to slam him against the wall. Tyler coughed loudly.

All the colour in his eyes drained slowly as Josh wrapped a hand around his throat. He was starting to see black spots cloud his vision.

Josh lifted him higher, Tyler’s toes barely brushing the floor. His face was turning blue.

“Please Josh,” he sputtered out between what little gasps of air he was getting. “Don’t do this!”

Josh was grinning.

“It’s Tyler, do you remember Tyler? Do you remember me?” Tyler wasn’t sure if he was going to actually die, but it sure felt that way.

He caught Keegan’s eye. Keegan pointed, but Tyler shook his head. This was his problem to deal with.

“We’re friends Josh, good friends. You helped me with my problems, remember?” Tyler tried to pull away at Josh’s tight grip, but Josh wasn’t letting up. In fact, his grip seemed to be getting tighter. “You gotta let me help you with yours. Please Josh.”

He wasn’t letting go. Tyler could feel his eyelids fluttering. His lungs felt like they were about to explode. You could only go three minutes without oxygen, right? Had it been three minutes yet?

“Please Josh. I love you. I love you so much. You can’t-” Tyler couldn’t finish his sentence.

Josh stared at Tyler’s limp form in his hand, blinking a few times before he dropped him on the floor. His back hit the other wall as Tyler fell to his hands and knees, coughing loudly.

Where was he? Who were these people? What was going on?

Keegan punched Josh as hard as he could, sending him tumbling to the floor and knocking him unconscious. Tyler looked up from the ground, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He stared at Keegan in amazement.

“Uh, thanks.” his voice was raw.

Keegan shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “No problem. Are you, uhm, okay?” Tyler shifted to lean back against the cool brick of the wall. He closed his eyes.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Guess he really took your breath away, huh?” Keegan was grinning while Tyler narrowed his eyes at him.

“I’m going to kill you.”

Keegan laughed loudly. “Sorry, I had too. So uh, do you want me to take him to Dallon or...”

“Go look for Vecchio. He’s supposed to fix the wiring in Josh’s head. He should be out with Dallon. And careful. He’s hot.”

Keegan nodded before scooping Josh into his arms. He faltered a bit before getting a good grip on him. “Uh yeah, he’s extremely warm. He could cook a pizza with his bare hands.” His eyes fell to the burn wrapped around Tyler’s wrist. It looked bad. “You’re going to want to get that fixed. It’s going to get infected.”

“I will, don’t worry. But there’s stuff I have to do first.”

“Be careful.”

Tyler nodded. He waited for Keegan to leave before standing up and moving down the hallway Brent had fled.

It turned out, Brent hadn’t gone very far. His face was red with embarrassment when he noticed Tyler standing opposite of him.

“So he didn’t have the guts to kill you.” Brent sighed. “I should have known. He was a failure.”

“He got pretty damn close,” Tyler argued. “So congratulations on being a dick.”

“We were going to change the world Tyler. Change everything. Make the planet a better place.”

“The human race was here long before we were. You can’t change one species into another.”

“But we _did._ The point is that we did. And if everyone is the same, there’s no war. No arguments. No theft. No murder. Everything is perfect.”

“Things don’t work like that. You of all people should know that.”

Brent frowned. “You are an annoying little brat Tyler, and if you want someone done, guess you gotta do it yourself.”

Next thing he knew, Tyler was standing at the top of a mountain, the wind blowing all around him. It was dark outside, the air covered in a haze of smoke. There was a body at his feet. He crouched down and let out a small gasp.

Josh.

His body was mangled, blood and organs seeping out through a slash in his abdomen. His eyes were wide open, filled with shock and betrayal. Tyler could feel tears sliding down his face.

Then there was another Josh. And another. And another.

Until the entire mountain was made up of cloned Josh corpses.

Tyler fell to his knees. He was a failure. He had failed. Josh was dead and it was his fault.

_It’s not real Tyler._

“Huh?” he said out loud, voice disappearing into the wind.

_It’s an illusion. This stuff doesn’t affect me. Snap out of it. He’s going to kill you._

“It’s not real,” he repeated, the mountain of corpses fading away to the familiar grey hallway of the prison. Brent had a gun.

He gasped loudly and took a few steps back when he realized Tyler was no longer in his hallucination. Tyler himself grinned, letting Blurry take over. This was over.

“How did you do that? Nobody can do that.” Brent was in a panic. He steadied the gun as best as he could.

“Think you forgot about me.”

Brent pulled the trigger the minute Tyler stepped forward. The bullet hit him in the shoulder.

“That wasn’t very nice of you.” he rolled his shoulders and continued walking, blood starting to seep into the fabric of his shirt. Brent swallowed loudly, his hands shaking. He pulled the trigger again. This bullet grazed Tyler’s side.

He kept walking.

Brent dropped the gun, his entire body shaking a mile a minute. “What are you?” he whispered in fear. His feet twisted and he stumbled backwards, one hand grasping the wall for support.

“What am I?” he scoffed. “You hurt my friends. You hurt my kind. You changed the person I love into a monster. You ruined my life. You ruined everyone’s life. So what am I?” Tyler came face to face with Brent, and with a wicked smile, shoved a knife into his stomach. Blood bubbled out of Brent’s mouth. “I’m your worst nightmare.”

His palm grasped Brent’s forehead, black lines traveling the length of his face, until Brent’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he dropped to the floor dead.

Tyler let out a rush of air, collapsing to the wall. The knife slipped from his fingers and landed on the ground with a clatter, right next to Brent’s face.

He took a moment to collect himself. Pain was searing through his body everywhere, even the burn which before had been replaced with adrenaline. Jesus Christ, he had been shot twice! This was something out an action movie, and frankly, Tyler didn’t want any part in that.

After slipping his beanie off and shoving it deep into his pocket, he used the wall as support as he made his way down the hallway. The sirens had stopped going off, but people were still screaming and frantically running around. Tyler wondered how many evil sons of bitches needed to be killed.

This whole building needed to be destroyed.

He had remembered seeing a boiler room somewhere. Maybe if he got to that, he could figure out a way to blow the place up. Cut a gas line maybe. Tyler wasn’t quite sure what to do, but he could figure that out once he got there.

If he didn’t bleed out first.

Blood was soaking every inch of his shirt, running down his arms and stomach. It was sticky and warm, and he swore the bullet was still lodged in his shoulder. This must be what hell feels like: dying without being dead.

_Oh, quit complaining. We killed Brent. We have Josh back. We won._

Tyler scoffed loudly, ending it with a grimace. He paused to pull away at his shirt collar, hissing when it stuck to his bare skin. It looked bad. It looked really, _really_ bad. “I got shot. Twice. And I have a third degree burn on my wrist, so I think I’m more than obliged to complain for once.”

Blurry didn’t reply.

Tyler didn’t know where he was or where he was supposed to go, and he was already starting to slow down. Great, now he was the one that would be holding the team up. Maybe it would be good if Tyler died here. The whole, “the captain goes down with the ship” kind of ordeal. He’d be okay with a death like this. Josh was okay, he was healthy, and that was all that mattered. They had won.

“Tyler?”

He looked up to see Chrissy staring at him with wide eyes, a giant cut slashed across her cheek. It was already starting to scab. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and she had dirt under her nails. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank god.” He stopped moving, pain shooting another round throughout his body. His legs weren’t willing to move anymore.

“What happened?” She rushed over to him in seconds, throwing an arm over his shoulders to stop him from collapsing. Tyler winced.

“Brent’s dead,” he muttered, teeth grinding against each other as he focused on moving down the hallway by putting all his weight on her.

Chrissy grinned. “That’s wonderful news. But you’re bleeding. Really badly.”

“Mmhm, I got shot. Twice.”

Chrissy stumbled in her step, causing Tyler to bump his injured side against her. He hissed in pain.

“Sorry! Wait, did Brent have a gun?” her eyes wandered to Tyler’s extremely badly burned wrist. “Oh no. You saw Josh, didn’t you? You didn’t kill him?”

“Course not, he’d kill me before I’d ever do that. I got hurt is all. But look, we got to blow this place up. Get rid of all the data and results and whatever else. It’s very important we don’t let anything get out.”

Chrissy stopped, jerking Tyler back. He cursed under his breath.

“Sorry. But were you going to sacrifice yourself?”

Tyler shrugged, immediately regretting it. “Captain goes down with the ship.”

“Oh no Tyler, you can’t do that. Josh needs you.”

“Josh doesn’t need me. He’s a talent now; he can take care of himself.”

“No, he most certainly needs you. He loves you. And you love him. And that’s something that doesn’t happen a lot of times you know.” She tightened her grip around Tyler’s shoulders, shivering when she felt his blood creeping under her fingernails. Chrissy pulled him down a different hallway.

“I’m not good for him.”

“You’re the best damn thing that’s ever happened to him. Trust me. I had to study his every move, every motion, every thought, for months.”

Tyler opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came out.

“I swear, you two act like middle school girls.”

“We do not.”

“See? You’re doing it right now.” she shook her head. “But if you want to so badly, I’ll take you to maintenance room.”

“Thank you.”

But Tyler didn’t find himself at the maintenance room. He found himself being shoved out the front door into Dallon’s arms, his body aching all over. Chrissy gave him a sad smile.

“What are you doing?” He struggled to get up, but he couldn’t move his body at all. It was like he was frozen on the spot.

“I was involved in this Tyler. I was Brent’s second hand man. I’m the one that has to end this.”

“No.”

She pointed at Dallon. “Get your people as far away from this place as possible. And don’t make Tyler walk. He’s severely injured.”

Dallon nodded, scooping Tyler’s broken body into his hands with ease. Tyler started screaming like a maniac, but he still couldn’t move around.

“You can’t do this Chrissy! You can’t do this!”

“Captain goes down with the ship.” She shook her head, another smile rising to her lips. A genuine one. “It was nice to meet you Tyler Joseph.”

Then she was closing the door to the building, and everyone was moving back into the woods. Tyler was still screaming, body writhing now that he could move, pain shooting through every individual cell in his body and tears streaming down his face. Dallon clutched him to his chest tightly, soothing him, but Tyler wasn’t having it.

There was an explosion behind them.

It lit the sky up, orange hazy light soaking the trees in scarlet. Everyone could feel the heat on their skin.

Tyler’s screaming got louder.


	21. 021

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank all of you for your support on this story. When I posted it, never in a million years did I think it would get all the attention and support it did, so thank you all so much. I can't believe it's almost over.

“Josh!” someone poked his cheek, and he rolled over with a groan. He never got enough sleep before someone was waking him up. Every freaking time.

“I don’t want to go to school mom,” he mumbled into his pillow, pulling the comforter over his head. That someone ripped it off of him completely.

Josh sat up.

That someone was Tyler.

His breathing quickened. He was back in his room, but he knew he had left. He remembered leaving. He remembered getting taken. How did he end up back here?

People were talking loudly outside his door and it was pounding in his ears. Birds were chirping way too loudly. The lights were too bright. His eyes were doing weird things. He felt too warm.

“Don’t freak out,” Tyler whispered, throwing his hands out in front of him. Josh was confused. He didn’t like this, not being able to remember what had happened.

The blanket he was clutching in his hand was going up in smoke.

Josh flung it across the room, scattering to the top of his bed. He pulled his knees to his chest.

“Dude, you gotta calm down. You’re going to set this place on fire.”

“What?” Josh stared at him in confusion and fear. He didn’t understand what he meant by that.

Tyler only sighed. “Vecchio told me this might happen.”

“Who is that?”

“You got kidnapped Josh. Brent was doing experiments on you. Do you remember?”

Josh looked down at his hands. They were calloused, nothing unusual. The black scars still ran up his arm. He was also in nothing but his underwear.

“I remember some stuff...” Josh met Tyler’s worried expression. “There was a girl named Chrissy. Where is she at?”

“She uh, left.” he was wringing his hands, distraught briefly filling his face.

“Brent wanted to turn me into some sort of weapon. I remember that.” Josh blinked. “He wasn’t successful, was he?”

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck, muttering under his breath when he realized there was now smeared paint back there. “Uhm, he was.”

Josh’s voice came out small and broken. “What?”

“You aren’t human anymore Josh. You’re like us. Well, not exactly. You’re probably more advanced than us.”

“What?”

“Stronger, faster, better eyesight, better hearing. That kind of stuff. But you’ve got like three powers into one. You’re ridiculously strong Josh.” he shuddered. “Fast too. But the biggest thing probably is the fire.”

“Fire?” Josh’s voice cracked.

“You’re both dead and alive at the same time. Pure energy basically. Which is the only reason I can touch you. So, I mean, it’s not terrible.” Tyler flashed a reassuring smile. “But yeah. You’re pretty much heat. Your body is really hot. Temperature wise I mean.” his face turned bright red. “You gotta be careful what you touch.”

“Are you saying that...” Josh couldn’t even finish. There was no way this could be true. This had to be a dream. He pushed himself off his bed and shuffled into the bathroom, almost fainting when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. Tyler appeared in the doorway, leaning against the framework.

“Forgot to mention that.”

“Oh my God,” he whispered, leaning forward on his elbows. He pulled down on the skin around his left eye in pure horror. He was a freak, nothing but a total freak!

He whipped back around to face Tyler. “What am I?”

“Exactly what I told you. Look, it’s not ideal, and I’m so sorry this happened to you, but we have to try and get used to it. Practice self control, you know?”

“Self control? Self control.” He sucked in air. Was it hot in here? Josh couldn’t breathe.

“You’re hyperventilating Josh, you gotta calm down. Please, don’t hurt yourself.”

“Forget hurting myself, I’m going to hurt other people!” He stumbled backwards, hands clenching into fists.

Which then promptly burst into flames.

And Josh was yelling.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! It doesn’t hurt you.” Tyler was promising, trying his hardest to calm Josh who was freaking the hell out and was definitely not okay.

“Hands, on fire. Fire for hands. Flames! Fire! I’m on fire.” Josh was stringing words together, not even bothering to put them into real sentences. He stared wide eyed as the flames spreading up his arms. Tyler was right of course, it didn’t hurt him, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t freaking him out.

“Put it out Josh.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I don’t even know how I started it!” He thrust his arms out in front of him, making sure they weren’t touching anything. Tyler stepped back, shielding his face from the heat.

“Jeez Josh, you are hot.” he grinned, but Josh continued staring at him like he was crazy.

“Now is really not the time Tyler!” he was shaking his head like a wet dog. The flames were starting to creep across his chest and torso. “Pour water? Baking soda? I don’t know! What puts flames out?”

“If you’re going to ignite your own fires, you gotta put them out yourself. You’ve done it before.”

“When on earth did I do that?”

“Well I guess it technically wasn’t you, it was-”

“For the love of God, please do something!”

“Okay okay okay. Just close your eyes and think really hard about the flames disappearing. I don’t know. I’ve never accidentally set myself on fire.”

“Seriously Tyler?” Josh groaned loudly, but found himself squeezing his eyes shut anyways. “Flames flames go away, come again another day.”

“Oh come on, that’s a little pathetic.”

“Just stop talking to me.” he rotated his arms slightly, turning his palms towards the floor. _Make me normal make me normal please for the love of God make me normal._

“You’re thinking pretty loud over there.”

“You know, considering we haven’t talked in like two months and you tried to kill me, this is a pretty awkward reunion.”

“I’m really sorry I tried to kill you. One, that wasn’t totally me. Two, Blurry would also like to apologize for trying to kill you.”

“I’m honored.”

“For Christ’s sake Joshua, open your eyes.” Tyler was staring at him with a smirk, arms folded tightly across his chest. Josh wasn’t on fire anymore.

Wasn’t that nice.

“How did I do that? I don’t know how I did that. How did I do that?” he started to hyperventilate again and Tyler frowned. He reached out to touch Josh’s arm, but recoiled immediately in a hiss of pain.

“Jesus, what are you trying to fry today?”

“Oh my God,” Josh kept muttering over and over again as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was never going to be able to get the hang of anything. He was going to be a hot mess (no pun intended) for the entirety of his life.

“Hey hey, it’s going to be okay. Everybody has gone through this process. Remember? Dallon was 28 when he got his powers. He probably freaked out just as badly. Give or take, you also have strength and speed you have to watch out for...”

“Is this all a joke to you Tyler?” Josh retaliated, tears starting to fall in frustration. Tyler was far too smiley and giggly for something that was changing Josh’s entire life.

Tyler’s smile dropped. He sighed loudly. “Of course not. I’m just trying to make you feel better about the situation.”

“We have to take this seriously. Please. I am terrified. I don’t even know the whole story. How did I get here? How did I...” he couldn’t finish talking. _Please let this be a nightmare._

“I’d give you a hug, but I don’t really want to suffer another third degree burn.” he waved his bandaged wrist. Dallon had healed most of it, but Tyler wanted it to scar, as a memory of what happened that night.

“I did that to you?” Josh’s voice was so so broken, and seeing him so scared and frustrated broke Tyler’s heart. He let out another sigh.

“I’ll explain what happened, okay? From the beginning.”

“I want to know everything. Even the bad stuff.”

Tyler nodded. “I’ll be completely honest.”

They moved back to Josh’s bed, where Josh pulled his knees up to his chest tightly and intertwined his fingers around them. Tyler sat at the end, a good distance away where Josh wouldn’t accidentally fry him.

“With the other guy being in charge for so long, I kind of lost it.” he scratched his chin. Josh noticed he hadn’t shaved in a while. He liked Tyler with stubble. But that wasn’t important at the moment. “I got taken over by all these voices, I felt psycho, and BF was nowhere to be found. And then you came down, and I couldn’t get a hold of myself, and I am so very sorry I tried to kill you. Never in a million years would I willingly want to hurt you. Please know that.”

“It’s okay. Wouldn’t be the first time you tried to kill me.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “I’m being serious here.”

Josh shrugged. “It wasn’t you. I know that. I felt like I failed you.”

“Oh Josh, no no no. Never in a million years.” he reached out to touch him before remembering Josh was a million freaking degrees. With a sigh Tyler tucked his hands back into his lap.

“Kinda weird having a boyfriend who wants to kill you all the time, huh?”

“Joshua, I swear to God.”

“I’m kidding. Besides, I think we technically broke up when I died.”

“Oh. Right. I uh, forgot about that.” Tyler’s face was turning red and he wasn’t sure why. “But uhm, you got kidnapped, and that was kind of my breaking point. You know, Blurry and I remembered you talking about a common goal. And uh, that common goal was finding you.”

Josh blinked, feeling his own face flush red. “Me?”

“Yeah. You. You’re the most important thing in both of our lives. And you were right. We are a lot happier.” Tyler grunted, one hand twitching in his lap. “Jesus, hold on!”

“Er...”

“He wants to talk.” Tyler answered. He rolled his shoulders, eyes blinking red, and Josh could only stare. He just _let_ Blurry take over? No fighting? No nothing?

What the hell had Josh missed?

“Hiya Joshie.” BF grinned. “It’s been awhile.”

“Uhm, yeah.” he swallowed loudly. “Hello.”

“You’re probably super confused. Which is okay, because I was too, at first. You know, having feelings and shit. Which, I guess I still do. Because I want you around just as much as Tyler does. Is that weird?”

“Uh, no. not at all. Maybe.”

“Anyways, I want to apologize for all the harm I’ve caused between you and Tyler, and just you in general. I mean, I’m not having any urges to kill you. Now fucking you, that’s a whole other story.” his smirk faltered. “Hold on Tyler, I’m not done! Honestly, he has no patience. But look, things are going to be difficult. Tyler knows that. I know that. But we are going to help you, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“You’ll be alright Josh.” One nod later, Tyler’s familiar dark eyes were back, brow creased with worry. “You good?”

“You can just, easily, do, that...? But...”

“Common goal Josh. Anyways, we got the team ready to go out. Then Chrissy and a guy named Lou came to us saying they wanted to help. Lou is still with us actually. We got a couple new people, a guy named Ryan Ross, Soren Hansen, David Boyd, who is an asshole but gets along with Lou really well so we let him stay, a couple others I’m drawing a blank to names at the moment. But they told us Brent had turned you into a monster.” Tyler paused, teeth running over his lower lip. Josh held his breath. “They had you hurting people. You hurt Brendon really bad. Patrick too. Probably some others. No, it’s okay! They’re alright.” Tyler threw his hands out when Josh’s expression became panicked. “Dallon took care of things. You’ve been out for a couple days. It’s given people time to get back into the swing. Brendon is getting plenty of rest with Spencer, Patrick is with Pete. Alex, Joe, and Gabe are all okay too. You almost killed me too, so we can call it even.”

Josh groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

“It wasn’t you Josh, you can’t remember. They brainwashed you. It’s okay. But uhm, Keegan took you back to Dallon and they got you home alright. I took care of Brent, got shot a couple times, the building got destroyed, and that leaves us here.”

"Shot? Ugh." Josh still had his hands over his face. This was a mess. He was a mess.

“Hey.” Josh felt Tyler pull his hands away. He didn’t even flinch, which meant Josh had somehow managed to get his body temperature under control. “Look at me.”

Tyler felt warm. His eyes seemed darker than usual, but his face was caring. Kind.

“You’re still the most beautiful thing on this planet, understand me? You always will be.”

Josh sighed. “Tyler-”

“Don’t you dare start arguing with me.” he paused, eyes looking up at the ceiling before flickering back to Josh. “I love you Josh. I love you so much, and I don’t think I have ever loved anybody as much as I love you.”

Josh only stared. They had both told one another they loved each other, but the circumstances had been horrible both times. This was like, for real.

“Josh?”

He crashed his lips onto Tyler’s, foreheads bumping and teeth clacking. Josh slid a hand behind Tyler’s neck while Tyler’s hands moved to his waist. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. Months and months and months it felt like, and finally, this.

Josh’s other hand gripped Tyler’s bicep tightly as he mumbled against his mouth, “I love you too. Oh my god, I love you so much.”

Tyler only laughed. It sounded beautiful. Angelic. Everything Josh ever wanted.

As their kiss became more passionate, Josh noticed Tyler was starting to become less and less forceful. His breathing was heavy.

Josh shoved him away. There was a red handprint on his arm where Josh had been touching him, and a scarlet mark on the back of his neck as well. His lips were swollen.

Tyler ducked his head as he blushed.

“Oh my god. Tyler, you idiot! You can’t... ugh.” Josh pushed his hands over his ears. He was going to hurt everybody he ever touched.

“Oh come on, it’s alright. If it really hurt that bad, I would have pulled away a lot sooner. It’s just that it was really nice to kiss you again and I didn’t want to pull away.” He grinned. “It’ll fade in a few days. I’ll send Mikey to get aloe. It’s like a sunburn.”

Josh groaned. “We aren’t kissing again until I know I won’t hurt you.”

“Oh come on!” Tyler stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, but Josh only shook his head.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I like you hurting me.”

“Dude.”

“Come on Josh. You’re hot. Literally and appearance wise. I can put up with the heat if it means feeling you next to me. Eventually, inside me.”

Josh choked, his body temperature shooting through the roof as he blushed fiercely. Tyler was laughing.

“Why are you embarrassed? Thought you wanted that. I’ve got myself under control, all we have to do is get you under control and bam. Put those condoms Brendon’s always giving me to use.”

“Gah! Please stop.”

“How old are you again?”

“I don’t like talking about this stuff.” Josh put his hands over his ears once more, but it wasn’t doing him much good. He could still hear every goddamn thing on the planet.

“Joshua Dun, are you telling me you’ve never had sex?”

“Of course I have!” he shot back at Tyler’s smug expression. Then his hands were twisting in his lap. “Just uh, not with, a, er, uhm, guy.”

“Oh. That’s right. You’re new to this.”

“Shut up.”

“Well, it won’t happen for a while. Gotta wait for the food to cool.” He grinned, ducking the pillow Josh threw at him.

“You’re awful.”

“What, are you telling me you eat your hot dogs right off the grill? Can’t say I’ve ever had an extremely hot wiener in my mouth before.”

“Tyler stop!” He threw another pillow at a still laughing Tyler. Josh pouted.

“Okay okay, I’ll stop. I gotta go do some leader stuff. You want to come with and see everyone?”

“Sure. But uhm, if I put clothes on, are they going to catch fire?”

Tyler shrugged. “Depends on how hot you are.” a smirk rose to his lips.

“I swear to God, if you say anything sexual, I’ll-”

“You’ll what?”

Josh frowned. “Nothing.”

“That’s what I thought. People are already going to ask about this handprint sunburn I have going on. What am I going to tell them?”

“You fucked up with the sunscreen.”

“Get some clothes on you tease.” Tyler sighed. “I can say though, whatever they did to you there, you certainly have more dominant abs now and that is fucking hot.”

“I’m going to kill you,” muttered Josh under his breath as he went to the duffel bag Tyler had left on the floor. He unzipped it and pulled out fresh clothes.

“Why are you going to kill me? I’m the one that wants your clothes off, not on.”

“I would like you to stop talking.”

“Oh shut it, you missed me.”

Josh shimmied into his shirt before responding. “Yeah, I did.” He was happy to see his shirt was not catching on fire.

“Just wanted to let you know that uh, everyone is aware of your condition. So no one should be staring at you. And if they are, I’ll beat them up for you.”

“Oh boy, my knight in shining armor.”

“Good to know you are just as sassy as before.” Tyler winked before pulling the door wide open. He ushered Josh out first, letting the door close on its own.

Josh was nervous walking through the hallway. It felt like years since he had done that, and everything looked different now that he had better eyesight.

Tyler reached out and grabbed his hand. “Just a few more notches and you might feel like a normal person.”

“Wow, thanks.” that didn’t help to Josh’s nervous state.

“I like warm Josh. You’re like my own personal heater.”

Josh didn’t answer, only gripped Tyler’s hand tighter.

“You don’t need to be so nervous dude. Everyone understands. You’re like us now.”

“I don’t like it.” his voice came out whiny.

“I know kitten.” Tyler pulled Josh further down the hallway. Their first stop was Brendon, as Josh felt he should formally apologize even though Tyler claimed he understood. That didn’t make anything better.

Tyler waited outside while Josh went in. Brendon was curled in a ball, his head in Spencer’s lap and eyes squeezed shut. Spencer was playing with his hair. The room felt really calm.

“Hey Josh.” Spencer sent a small smile his way. “How you feeling?”

Josh shifted his weight from one foot to another, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m okay. Freaking out, but okay.”

“Mm, yeah. I understand the freaking out part. But don’t worry, you’ll get it under control and it'll be the best thing that ever happened to you.” he paused to look down at Brendon’s sleeping form. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. Brendon’s face was hollow, dark bags under his eyes. He looked significantly skinnier too, Josh noted. “Are you and Tyler doing alright?”

“Uh, yeah. I think so. But that’s not important. How’s Brendon?”

Spencer pushed hair out of Brendon’s face with a sigh. “He’s beat. It was hard for him. The dude has been through a lot, but I don’t think anything compared to that. He keeps having nightmares too. Terrible ones. He wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, and then he just sits there and cries into my shoulder. I don’t like seeing him in this much pain. Dallon keeps offering to help out, see if he can do anything, but Brendon says he has to get through this himself. He’s a fucking idiot, but I’m so happy he’s okay.”

“I, uh,” Josh was struggling not to break down into tears. He had added to Brendon’s traumatizing experience and that was what destroyed him the most about seeing him like this. “I just wanted to say sorry. I’m so sorry. Sorry for every single thing. I would never hurt him, never, but I did and-” he choked. _Dammit._

“Oh Josh, he knows it wasn’t you. He doesn’t blame you at all.”

“But it was me.”

“Don’t start this shit man, they were messing with your brain. Everyone knows that. Brendon knew it wasn’t you the minute you showed up.”

“That doesn’t make it any better.” Josh rubbed at his eyes as Brendon stirred in his sleep.

“Hey sleepyhead,” Spencer whispered as Brendon sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

“Hey.” it was then he noticed Josh. “Oh. Hey Josh.”

“Hi.” he looked at the ground.

“Josh and I were just talking. He’s feeling much better.”

“That’s good. The powers thing takes a little while to get used too. Trust me, I know from personal experience.”

“I’m so sorry Brendon,” Josh suddenly blurted out, all his words running together. “I would never willingly hurt you, and I did, and I’m so sorry. I know I’ll never be able to make it up to you, I know that, but-”

“For the love of God Josh, it’s okay. I know it wasn’t you. Trust me, the minute I saw your face I knew they had done something to you. I’m just glad you’re feeling okay. If any of us got the short stick, it was you.” he hopped off the bed and went to wrap his arms around Josh. Josh prayed he wasn't a million freaking degrees at the moment as he buried his face in the crook of Brendon’s neck. “Don’t for one second blame yourself for this.”

“Can’t help it.”

As they pulled away, Brendon rolled his eyes. “You’re warm. That’s an improvement.”

“That’s good. I’m always up for an improvement.”

A smirk rose to Brendon’s lips and Josh braced himself for whatever horrible thing was about to come out of his mouth next. “So, you and Ty had sex yet?”

Josh groaned at the same time Spencer scolded Brendon. He threw his hands up in defense.

“It’s an honest question! They can touch now, Tyler’s got control of his crazy side, I’ve given him plenty of rubbers...”

“Please. Stop.” Josh pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt behind him for the door knob. It started to pop and fizzle, to which Josh immediately pulled away. Embarrassment equaled hotter temperature. He’d have to keep that in mind.

“Don’t fuck up our doorknob,” Spencer shouted over Brendon’s laughter.

“You know, now that I’m thinking about it, you and Tyler having sex might be really bad. You’re going to not only kill him, but set the entire building on fire.”

“You’re going to make him explode Bren.” Spencer was grinning too. Josh wanted to die.

It was then that Tyler pushed the door in, completely knocking Josh who was standing in front of it to the floor. Brendon was sent into another fit of giggles, one hand clutching his heart. Josh stared up at him from the floor with narrowed eyes.

“I can hear everything you are saying. Leave the poor guy alone. He doesn’t like talking about that kind of stuff.”

“Thank you,” Josh muttered, but there was something on Tyler’s face that gave off the impression he wasn’t finished.

“Besides, we have to prepare him for his first time.”

Josh swore he was going to kill Tyler the minute they were alone.

“Oh, dude.” Brendon was laughing even harder, and Josh was turning more and more red as the seconds passed. He might burn the building down if this continued.

“I fucking hate all of you,” Josh mumbled under his breath as he pushed himself off the ground. Tyler offered him a hand, and in all honesty he was tempted to burn his skin off. “Too hot.”

“You embarrassed him to the point of no return,” Spencer joined in on the laughter. Josh pushed past Tyler and started walking down the hallway. He reminded himself to avoid Brendon for a while.

 ---

 

Josh stood outside Pete’s door, his hand raised to knock where it had been for about three minutes now. He wanted to see Patrick and apologize, but then again, he was scared beyond belief of what Pete was going to do to him.

That is, if he even knew what Josh did.

He would know, that was for certain. There was no way he wouldn’t know. The question was if he knew it was Josh.

“Only one way to find out.” he rapped his knuckles on the door and waited patiently for him to open it. Josh noticed there were people in the dining room, just like old times. The hole seemed like it was fixed too. When did they do that?

While he was preoccupied, Pete pulled him inside the bedroom and slammed him against the wall. His fist made contact with Josh’s nose.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Josh groaned, raising a hand to his now bleeding nose. His face was tingling.

“That’s for hurting Patrick,” he simply stated before pulling Josh into a hug. He didn’t seem phased by Josh’s temperature so that was good. “And that’s for everything else.” Josh nodded his head at Pete’s grinning features. Had he gone insane?

Patrick was leaning up against the wall on the bed, a blanket curled tightly around his shoulders. He looked healthy besides the fact that he was unhealthily skinny like Brendon had been and his cheeks were just as hollow. But he was clean and okay and that was all that mattered.

Josh couldn’t help but glance down at his missing hand.

“Good to see you too.” he wiped blood on his jeans.

“Are you alright? Doing any better? Coping any better?”

“I’m alright. A little freaked out, but alright. And I’ll get better.”

“Damn right you will. I have no doubt you will. I want to see you and Merrick arm wrestle sometime. See who’s stronger.” Pete suddenly let out a loud laugh as he turned towards Patrick. He was grinning. “That too.”

“Uh...” Josh looked between the two of them. “What just happened?”

“Patrick said he wants to see you and Gerard race. See who’s faster.”

“But...he didn’t...say anything?” Josh was very confused.

Pete tapped the side of his head. “Him and I don’t have to talk out loud anymore. Everything is up here. And he’s working to be able to do it with other people.” Patrick nodded his head.

“Oh. Well uhm, that’s really great. I’m really happy that worked out.” Then Josh let out a sigh. “I just wanted to say I’m really really sorry for what I did in the prison. I have no recollection of it and I would never hurt you purposely. You guys are like family to me.”

“Patrick says it’s okay. He realized they had done something to you the minute your hands lit up in flames. Speaking of which, you have got to show me that. I’ve never seen anyone with the ability to do that. Ice, I’ve seen, but not fire for some weird reason.”

“You know Pete, I don’t think that’s a good idea. One, I don’t even know how to do it, and two, I’ll end up setting the place on fire if I’m not careful enough. So, uhm...” Josh looked away.

“Sorry Josh, I keep forgetting this isn’t your average talent situation. I’m really sorry they did that to you. No one deserves that. But you’re strong. You’ll figure it out. And you got Tyler to take care of you. Speaking of which-”

“No!” Josh yelled, pointing a finger at Pete. He knew what was coming. “Do not say it! If you say it I’m going to set fire to your bedroom.”

“You don’t know what I was going to say,” he argued, but he had one cocked eyebrow and Josh was no idiot. Okay, he was on most occasions, but right now he was not. “Unless you can read minds. Can you read minds?”

“I can read enough to know what you were about to bring up. The answer is no and will remain no until further proven.”

Pete folded his arms, expression still smug. “You remember that day I caught you two trying to leave?”

_Oh no._

“Yeah you do. Because you two left anyways, didn’t you? You probably went off somewhere secluded, away from everyone here. And when you came back, isn’t it just funny that none other than Brendon Urie found you walking the hallways naked?”

Josh was pretty sure he would be mistaken as a tomato at this point. Why was everyone so concerned about his sex life? It didn’t matter. It wasn’t important.

“You and our dear leader obviously did something, so you don’t get to play innocent. And this just in: Tyler’s been spotted with a handprint shaped mark on his upper arm. Hmm.”

“I’m leaving now.” he went to grab the doorknob when it occurred to him what happened last time. A sigh of frustration escaped as he pulled his hand away. Of course. Of frickin’ course.

Pete clucked his tongue. “You’re going to melt the doorknob aren’t you? Why do you get all flustered about this stuff man? Are you 12?”

“Yes,” Josh mumbled, angry with the fact that he would be stuck here until A, Pete stopped talking, or B, until he calmed down enough to revert his body temperature away from boiling temperatures.

“Oh dude.” his laugh pounded in Josh’s ears. “You ever read Fahrenheit 451?”

“Every sophomore and their mother has, yes.”

“So then you know paper burns at 451 degrees then?” Oh no.

“Yep. That’s kind of the point of the title.”

“Good to know you’re still a fuckin’ smartass. Let’s see if you’re 451 shades of embarrassed.” Oh cool, Patrick was laughing too. Josh could only imagine the conversation they had going on up in their heads. Guess it didn’t matter whether he was human or this, he was still going to be the laughing stock of the place.

Pete pressed a scrap of paper to Josh’s arm, which promptly began smoking. If he turned any more red he was going to set fire to his clothing. What temperature did cloth burn?

He really didn’t want to be around anyone when he found out.

“Glad to see your little experiment worked. Now could you open the door for me please?” Pete wiped tears that had fallen from his eyes and yanked on the doorknob. Josh shot him a look that screamed “I’m going to kill you” before storming off down the hallway.

“Stay safe!” he called after him.

Josh was going to strangle Pete. No, he was going to strangle every single person in this goddamn place.

He didn’t only have to worry about the people, but about trying to stay cool enough to live like a normal person and not set fire to everything he touched. And being mad was not helping him to stay cool. He was never going to be able to touch anyone without burning the shit out of them. How was he expected to deal with that? He could accidentally kill someone one day. He had already almost done that.

He was such an idiot.

 ---

 

Tyler was sitting in Josh's bedroom, on _his_ bed, with a stupid fucking smirk on his face.

Josh wanted to be alone.

“Jesus, what happened to your face? You alright?” he asked once Josh dropped down next to him with a groan and shoved his face into his hands.

Josh replied with a mumbled “No.”

“Bad day?” Josh felt an arm drape over his shoulders and he moved closer to Tyler, burying his face in his chest.

“Yep.”

“It gets better as the days go by. Trust me, I know.”

“I know, I shouldn’t be complaining.”

Tyler scoffed. “Oh come on, you have every right to complain. It’s okay to get things off your chest. And I’m really sorry about teasing you. I know things aren’t the best right now and it wasn't right of me to push you.”

“S’okay. I know it’s kind of weird I get embarrassed by that kind of stuff. I just don’t like talking about it in front of other people.”

With a heavy sigh, Ty leaned down to kiss the top of Josh’s head. Josh could feel him smiling in his hair. “Are you up for it though?”

“What?” Josh could be terribly oblivious at times.

“Sex Josh. I’m talking about sex.”

“Oh.” he pushed himself off of Tyler so he could properly sit on the bed. “Of course. I love you.”

“Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you have to do it.”

“Tyler, you gave me a blowjob. I think I mean it when I say I want to have sex.”

His loud, angelic laughter rang out, sending happy chills down Josh’s spine. He loved when Tyler laughed. He wanted him to laugh all the time.

“I love you Joshua.” Tyler pulled him back into a hug.

“Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what's coming next.


	22. 022

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my friends, this is the second to last chapter in this story. There's also going to be an epilogue, so don't worry. I'm also planning on doing some prequels, so you can see into some other characters as well. I just want to thank you all for your positive feedback on this. I never thought you would enjoy as much as you did, and I want to hug every single one of you. Thank you so frickin' much.
> 
> Anyways, you've still got two more so don't fret yet! There's some long awaited sex in this chapter, so have fun. You deserve it.

Over the course of three months, the clan got back into the swing of things. Everyone was healing nicely, engaging in conversation, going out into the city more. They chatted, worked, and overall, enjoyed themselves.

Patrick was doing well. He could still use his powers; only now it was telepathic based. He could establish a telepathic connection with pretty much anyone in the building, but most of the time it was just with Pete. They were always giving each other small glances or smiles, always touching in some fashion.

Brendon, Ryan, and Spencer were always hanging out. It turned out Ryan and Brendon had a lot in common, and Spencer could make friends with anyone.

David got a lot better with being around people. He had apologized and meant it, and was a lot nicer in general. Lou promised he was a nice guy, just had been confused. They were always together with their friend Soren, keeping to themselves.

The others were doing much better as well. Everything was back to normal, but it was a much better kind of normal. One that everyone could get used to.

Every day for an hour or so, Josh and Tyler spent time downstairs in Tyler’s little workout room. Tyler was teaching Josh some of his self control and breathing exercises, giving him tips for how to control his body temperature and the flames. Three months later, Josh was doing a very good job at not setting anyone or anything on fire. He had only broken a table accidentally and given Tyler a few small burns.

Josh was doing okay with this life. It was weird, having powers and not being able to do the things he wanted to do all the time, but he got to be with Tyler, could _touch_ Tyler, could hug and kiss and cuddle with him all he wanted, and he reminded himself that was the most important part.

“How you doing?” Tyler asked quietly as he circled around Josh with his arms crossed. They were practicing today, much later than usual. Josh had managed to convince Tyler to be lazy today. He played drums for a good hour, Tyler watching very closely (and making several inappropriate comments) and then they spent a good amount of time making out. It wasn’t until Josh’s body temperature spiked did Tyler pull him downstairs by his sleeve to practice, Josh grumbling the whole way down.

“I’m fine. Still mad at you though.”

“Oh shush. You’re doing fine. This isn’t something you haven’t done a million times.”

“Well if I’ve done it a million times, why do I have to do it a million and one?”

“Because practice makes perfect. Come on. Get through this,” Tyler paused, raising an eyebrow, “and I’ll blow you.”

Josh felt his dick twitch. _Stop that._

“Tempting offer, but you can’t bribe me. You can’t do anything really, because I’m stronger than you. Faster than you. Hotter than you.”

“Alright, prove it flame boy.”

“Don’t ever call me that again.”

“Flame boy. Flame boy, flame boy, flame boy.” Tyler grinned cheekily to which Josh promptly flipped him off.

“Oh, fuck you.”

“Please do.” he ducked out of the way of Josh’s fist. “Come on, just do the flame thing. We have to catch you up on missed time.”

Josh sighed dramatically, sprawling a hand over his face. “Fiiiiinnnee.” He figured out that the flame part came with a little friction and a whole lot of heat. Also will had a little bit to do with that. The only hard part was getting the flames to go out. Focusing on lowering your body temperature was a lot harder than it sounded, thank you very much.

Tyler nodded his head in satisfaction when Josh’s hands exploded in flames. Josh glared at him, raising one fist slightly.

“There. You happy?”

“I am. Now put it out.”

Josh closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. In and out, in and out. Cold things. Ice. Ohio in the winter. Frozen pizza. Tyler’s heart.

He snickered at the last one, causing Tyler to look over in suspicion. “What are you laughing at?”

“My awesome sense of humor.”

“Right.” Tyler rolled his eyes. He reached out and gently laid a hand on Josh’s upper arm. “Gotta go cooler.”

“So not you then?”

“Ha ha ha, so funny, _flame boy._ ” Josh elbowed him as Tyler walked behind. When he opened his eyes to see Tyler pouting, Josh grinned. He waved his hands in front of Tyler’s face.

“Fire’s out. You have to blow me.”

Tyler scoffed. “No. You were mean. And that shouldn’t even count.”

“Oh whatever, that’s the fastest I’ve ever made the fire go away. You want me to jack my temperature up again? Turn the room into a sauna?”

“You can jack something all right.” a smirk rose to Tyler’s lips as Josh groaned.

“You’re an asshole.”

Instead of replying, Tyler only nudged Josh towards the wall, pressing a hand up against it on either side of him. Eyes blinked red.

“Don’t think you want to fight us on this Joshie.”

“Or do I?” he challenged shakily. It had been three months, and Josh felt he could control his temperature for a good while.

Blurry grinned. He began nudging Josh out the door into the office and across to Tyler’s bedroom.

“Against the wall,” he demanded. Josh happily obeyed, leaning up against the wall lazily. He unzipped his pants, raising an eyebrow. Tyler’s eyes went back to being dark.

“Are you sure?” he asked, face masked in concern. Josh shrugged.

“Can’t say until we try. And I want to try. And now’s as good as time as any.” his face blossomed into a dark shade of red and Tyler let out a small laugh.

“Oh dude. Don’t tell me you’re hard.”

“What? You’re pretty sexy with red eyes.”

Tyler laughed again as he leaned down and kissed the corner of Josh’s mouth. His hands slipped under Josh’s shirt, sliding over hips. “You’re sure?”

“No Tyler, I’m lying.” Josh rolled his eyes, annoyance in his tone. “I’m sure.”

“But like, you’ve never done this before. You could hate it.”

Josh pressed forward to pull Tyler back into a kiss. “Just shut up and fuck me.”

“You don’t get to be the bossy one,” Tyler murmured against his mouth. He moved down to Josh’s collarbone, biting down to string hickeys. Josh moaned softly.

“Don’t tease me.”

“How about you shut the fuck up?” he went back to sucking, fingers trailing down Josh’s arms. He was more gentle running over the scars. “You’re all mine.”

“Mmhm,” replied Josh lazily as he nudged Tyler away and pulled his shirt over his head. Tyler pulled it out of his hands and tossed it onto the bed behind him. He watched with heated eyes as Josh pulled off his jeans, smirking at the bulge in his boxers, before Josh was pulling those off too.

Tyler pulled off his shirt, slamming the door closed before he stripped of everything else. Josh’s breathing hitched. _God_ was Tyler beautiful. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen him naked before, but this was different. He was Josh’s and nobody else. Everything about his body was flawless, from his tanned skin to his tattoos to the smirk on his face.

And to think Josh got all of it.

“You have to do everything I say, understand?” Tyler’s voice was husky as he trailed a fingertip down Josh’s spine.

“Yes.”

“Turn around.” demanded Tyler, but Josh didn’t. Instead, his eyes widened.

“Are we doing it, like, against the wall? There’s a bed? Wait, is this how all men do it?”

“Don't question me. Now turn around. I won’t do anything until you’re okay with it, alright?”

“Er, yeah. Okay.” Tyler was the expert here. He knew more. So Josh turned around.

Tyler gently wrapped a hand around his jaw, yanking his head back so he could kiss him. They started out soft and slow but it didn't take long before Tyler was pushing his tongue into Josh's mouth and biting down hard on his lower lip. Josh let out a small whimper.

"Hands on the wall," muttered Tyler as he moved his own hands downwards across skin, thumbing at his chest and hips. Josh sighed happily, moving inwards into his touch. "Wall, now," he repeated, causing Josh to go frigid. He moved both hands to the wall, trying his hardest to keep his temp low. He didn't want to hurt Tyler.

Josh felt Tyler trail farther down his body until it was wrapping around the base of his dick, causing him to buck under his touch again. His hands came off the wall, temperature rising slightly.

"You doing okay?" Tyler whispered against his shoulder as he pressed his other hand against his back. Josh nodded his head with a shaky sigh. "Lower your temperature a little, okay kitten? You're getting hotter."

"Lower," Josh repeated as he squeezed his eyes shut and focused all his attention on moving his temp back down. He pushed against the wall as hard as he could.

"Good boy. I'm gonna open you up now, okay? If at any time you feel pain, you gotta let me know. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

Tyler pressed his lips to Josh's shoulder softly before letting go and moving away from him briefly. Josh felt cold at the sudden lack of touch, but perked but up at the sound of a dresser drawer opening and a lube bottle clicking open. He moved a hand down to his dick, moaning at the touch.

"Joshua," Tyler said firmly, but Josh didn't open his eyes. He only grumbled and moved his hand back. "We'll get there baby, I promise. Just wait."

A few seconds later Tyler had one hand back on Josh's shoulder. He trailed it down his spine, causing Josh to push his head back greedily. Tyler chuckled as he kissed Josh on the mouth softly.

"Hurry up," Josh demanded against Tyler's lips. Tyler pulled away.

"Okay, you good?"

"Please Ty," his voice came out as a whiny plead and nothing had even happened yet. Tyler sighed, placing another kiss back on Josh's shoulder.

"Stay low, okay? I don't wanna burn off my fingers." Tyler placed his hand gently on Josh's back before shoving one finger inside of him.

Josh arched back, meeting Tyler halfway, a loud whiny moan echoing throughout the bedroom. He could feel himself sweating as Tyler moved his finger up further.

"You okay kitten?" Tyler sounded worried at Josh's reaction and pulled his finger out. Josh gasped, his fingers curling inwards on themselves.

"Oh you son of a bitch," he muttered loudly, banging his head against the wall. Josh began moving a hand down to his dick, but Tyler swatted it away.

"No, you gotta wait."

"Tyler _please_."

"You're okay?"

"I'm fine you fucker!" Josh moaned again as Tyler wrapped a hand around his dick and pumped gently.

"Good?"

"Fuck you," he spat out, banging his head against the wall once again. Tyler paused briefly, covering his fingers in more lube as he pressed another up inside Josh. Josh moaned even louder than last time, once again meeting Tyler's thrusts halfway. He let out a string of profanities as Tyler scissored his fingers inside him, pushing farther up.

"Too hot kitten," mumbled Tyler as he loosened his grip on Josh's skin. Josh shook his head, trying to forget the pleasure briefly enough to focus on cooling himself down. He didn't want to fry his boyfriend during sex. That wouldn't be a good conversation starter with Dallon.

Oh god. He didn't want to think about Dallon during sex.

"Josh, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to hurry the fuck up and put your dick inside me! Fuck!" He yelled again, bucking his hips backwards as Tyler hit his prostate. He felt Tyler start to casually jerk him off again.

"You want another finger?" Tyler questioned, bending forward to bite down on his neck. Josh was trying so hard not to set fire to anything.

"Fucking hell," was Josh's only reply, to which Tyler added another finger. He arched again.

"You good?"

"I'm good." Josh's eyes were starting to water and his hairline was covered in sweat, but he was good. He was really good.

And for the hell of it, Tyler added one more, causing a sound to rip through Josh's body that Tyler had never once heard before. Blurry kicked him in the chest for that one, wanting nothing more than to go rough with Josh. But not this time, Tyler told him. They had to be careful with Josh.

"Too hot," he whispered as he pulled out and tangled his lube covered fingers in Josh's hair. Tyler yanked his head back, kissing him roughly on the mouth. Strings of spit trailed from their mouths when he pulled away.

"Come on and fuck me," Josh begged, pushing back onto Tyler's palm. Tyler chuckled softly.

"Okay, okay." He turned around and pulled open a dresser drawer to quickly pull on a condom before lining himself up with Josh's entrance and sighing. "You okay baby?"

"I'm fucking fine!" Josh banged his head against the wall again. His dick was throbbing painfully, precum covering where Tyler's had jerked. All he wanted was to hurry up and come.

Tyler placed both his hands on Josh's shoulders, kissing him softly on the back of the neck. "Okay, you ready?"

"For fucks sake Tyler!" He arched again, his body tingling with pleasure at the touch of Tyler's dick against his back. He needed Tyler to hurry the fuck up.

"Jesus Christ you're bossy." Tyler adjusted himself and went in slowly, causing Josh to moan again, louder than anything he had ever made before. His entire back arched into Tyler's gesture, his muscles glistening with sweat and stretching at the movement. Josh was fucking attractive, Tyler knew that. But the fact that he was the cause of all these sounds coming out of his mouth was beautiful.

"You fucking son of a bitch, fucking _fuck_!" Josh was yelling, his hands curling in on themselves once more and so tightly his knuckles were white. His whole body was shivering with pleasure, and God, he was thankful Tyler was his.

Tyler pulled his head back to kiss him roughly, tongues swirling as he pushed in farther. With each thrust a new moan ripped through Josh's mouth, causing Tyler to push harder at pleasing him. It was a wonderful sound.

"You're beautiful baby, so fucking beautiful. And you're all mine. All mine."

"I'm all yours," Josh replied, his voice breathy and eyes watering. "Oh my god, fuck."

Tyler moved a hand back to his dick, rubbing gently. "You wanna come now?"

"Fucking hell I do." Josh banged his head against the wall as Tyler thrusted harder, his final one hitting Josh's prostate. Josh's body spasmed as he came all over the wall and himself, another loud moan filling the room. Tyler kissed him gently as Josh's body went limp.

"You okay kitten? Did I hurt you?" He noticed Josh was crying, and worry filled his face.

"I'm, I'm fine." Josh was gasping for air, one hand feeling around for Tyler's. He was in less of a panic when Tyler grasped it firmly. He kissed Josh again.

"You did good baby. You did good." Tyler pulled out, letting Josh slump against the wall on his own for a brief second as he tied the condom up and tossed it in the trash. Then he was back over to Josh, throwing an arm over his shoulders and helping him shuffle out the bedroom door and around to the bathroom. He kept whispering praise to Josh, telling him he did "so well," that he loved him so much, how beautiful he looked, and Josh would only nod and try and smile. He was worn out beyond belief.

"Let's get you cleaned up kitten." He turned the shower on, not even waiting for the water to heat up before helping Josh in over the edge of the bathtub and letting the water run over his front. He kissed Josh softly, wanting to be as gentle as possible.

"That was so nice," Josh whispered into Tyler shoulder as he moved around to face him. Tyler grinned.

"It was wonderful. I love you so much baby, so fucking much."

"I love you too." Josh's voice was dreamy, like he was on a whole other planet. Tyler kissed the top of his head before shifting his weight so he could put shampoo in his hands. Then he washed Josh's hair, massaging his head and listening to the tiny moans of pleasure Josh made before doing the same with conditioner and scrubbing his body away of all the after sex fluids. Josh hung his head sleepily, eyes closed as water ran down his face. He could feel his dick twitch when Tyler accidentally brushed his fingers around the area.

"Again?" Tyler chuckled, but he crouched down and licked gently at the remaining dried come under Josh's navel. He bit down, leaving a nice purple teeth marked bruise before pulling away and using a washcloth to scrub what was left to be cleaned. Josh moaned again.

"Fuck, Tyler," he whispered, head falling against the shower wall. Tyler grinned.

"You gotta wait kitten, you're going to hurt in the morning."

"I already hurt all over."

"I know love." Tyler paused to clean away all the paint off his hands and off Josh's body, checking to make sure he hadn't missed anything. He kissed Josh on the lips cheekily, causing Josh to groan softly.

"Fuck you."

"Maybe some other time." Tyler turned the shower off and pulled a towel off the rack, wrapping Josh in it tightly despite his protests. He kissed him again before drying himself off and swooping Josh into his arms.

Josh snuggled against Tyler's chest as he walked him back into the bedroom, where he began to lay him down gently on his back. When Josh winced in pain, Tyler resorted to his stomach.

"It hurts," Josh whined, pulling the towel over his head. Tyler clucked his tongue.

"It's gonna hurt. Be careful." He pulled the towel off in one swift move, ignoring Josh's grumbles as he maneuvered Josh's legs into the holes of a fresh pair of boxers and pulled the hem up over his waist. Josh grimaced again.

"Sorry babe." Tyler kissed Josh's temple before sliding into his own boxers and climbing into bed with him. "You wanna take a little nap? I'll be here when you wake up. Then we can go get some food. I'll go into town and get you whatever you want."

"Taco Bell," Josh mumbled into his pillow. He shifted up his head onto Tyler's stomach, one hand sliding up to trace the rectangular boxes on his chest. Tyler sighed happily at the gesture.

"I haven't had Taco Bell in forever."

"It's good."

"I know it's good you dork." Tyler began playing with Josh's hair. "I love you."

"I love you too."

A few minutes passed where Josh was beginning to nod off when Tyler shifted underneath him, causing Josh to jolt awake.

"What?" He asked in a breathy gasp for air.

"Let's get a matching tattoo."

"That's what you scared me for?"

"Sorry. But I'm serious."

Josh closed his eyes again. "That'd be lovely."

"I love you Josh. Sorry. Go back to sleep." Tyler kissed his hand and placed it to Josh's head before going back to playing with his hair. Josh let out a happy exhale.

"Am I too hot?"

"You're perfect. My own personal Joshua heater."

"You're a nerd."

"I love you."

"I know." Tyler smacked him playfully. "I love you too."

"Next time, let's get a little harsher. Blurry wants a turn."

"Sounds good."

"And pull my hair Josh. I like that."

"You're so weird."

"You seem like you'd like to talk dirty."

A scoff. "Go to sleep you loser."

"I love you."

"Love you too." Tyler smiled as he watched Josh's breathing slow. He was perfect. Beautiful.

All his.

 

\---

 

When Josh woke up, there was an absence of heat from underneath him. He realized Tyler was gone.

His immediate reaction was to panic, which was stupid because Tyler could do whatever he wanted, he didn’t have to stay with him. It’s just that he kept having nightmares of the prison, being tortured, of Brent putting him in some nightmare world for eternity, a world with no Tyler. A world where Tyler left because Josh was nothing but some freak of nature, nothing but a monster.

Josh started hyperventilating and he knew he had to stop before something bad happened, but the sheets were already starting to smoke under his palms and he rolled off the bed in a yelp, grunting when he hit the floor. It wasn’t even tomorrow and he already ached all over.

And yeah, he was crying.

Which was ridiculous, he thought. He didn’t need to cry over something so small. But Josh didn’t think this was just about Tyler being gone. It was about all the stress and frustration and nightmares and pain from the past four months. He hadn’t really had time to sit down and be a mess about this, because he had to pretend to be strong, that he was happy things were different, that he wasn’t constantly freaking out because he could set fire to anything or burn people by touching them or that he could break a chair by grabbing it too tightly or sometimes he accidentally moved too fast and found himself some place he didn’t want to be or that his eyes were black and he looked like some creepy ass demon creature from the black lagoon. And now, to top it all off, he was stuck on the floor, lying on his stomach with his head buried in his arms, because it hurt to move and he was crying like a five year old. Josh looked pathetic.

“Josh?” he recognized Tyler’s worry and turned to look at him. He was dressed, minus the black paint, holding a brown paper bag and a plastic cup. Tyler sighed, setting down his contents on the dresser before crouching down next to Josh and cautiously brushing his fingers against Josh’s back. He recoiled with another sigh. “You’re too hot baby. What’s wrong?”

“It’s too much,” Josh whispered, pushing his face back into his arms. He didn’t want Tyler to see him acting like a five year old.

“What, the pain? Because I know it hurts, but-”

“Everything is too fucking much!” he yelled, trying to move again, to sit up, but nope, that definitely was not happening.

Tyler was quiet. He looked up to the bed, where a black scorch mark had gashed across a good part of the sheets. He could connect the dots here.

“Let’s get you back on the bed, okay? Can you stay low long enough to let me move you?”

Josh sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. _Stay low._

Tyler covered Josh in a blanket (just in case) before carefully scooping him into his arms, whispering sorry when Josh winced. He laid him back on the bed on his stomach, placing his head on a pillow. Josh sniffed again.

“You okay? You need to talk?” Tyler kicked off his shoes and pulled off his jeans before squeezing tightly next to Josh, pulling the comforter up over both of them. Josh moved so his head was on Tyler’s lap, where he tugged on one hand to give him some subtle hint to play with his hair. Tyler did just that.

“I’m not okay,” Josh replied quietly. “I have nightmares. And panic attacks. And anxiety and I’m so scared you’re going to leave me and I woke up and you weren’t here and you said you would be, you _said_ you would be, and-”

“Oh Josh,” Tyler weaved his fingers through Josh’s hair, grasping tightly. He sighed. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you’d wake up, I just wanted to surprise you, I didn’t know. I would never leave you, okay? Never. I love you so much, I’m not going anywhere, okay? Never.”

“I can’t keep pretending I’m okay with this.” Josh’s voice cracked, another round of tears making it’s way down his face. “I’m not. I don’t like it. It’s too much. I don’t like that I get too hot and burn people, or set things on fire. I don’t like that I don’t know my own strength or speed, or that my eyes are all weird and people get creeped out. I don’t like the way people look at me out of pity, or tease me about burning the place down, because I’m scared I might actually do it. And all these little practices and exercises we do? It just reminds me that it’s _all real_. I got kidnapped, I got put in handcuffs and shackles and I got needles jammed into my skin and I got touched and all I heard was screaming, and I barely got food or bathroom breaks and everyday I wake up hoping it was all one big nightmare. That I’m normal, that I’m still human, that I’m not the fucking human torch, that I wasn’t turned into some successful weapon and forced to hurt and torture innocent people. I wake up crying sometimes, and all I want to do is scream. Because if I didn’t behave, or I fought back, Brent wasn’t happy. And he’d use his powers on me. You know what my worst nightmare is? It was hurting you. And in these little hallucinations, I’d be killing you. Or watching you die, or leave me. Over and over and over again and I could never stop it. I’d come out of them screaming and crying. It was terrible there Tyler, it was so terrible.” Josh was shaking so badly, and his words were all stringing together because he was crying and yeah, Josh was a mess.

Tyler felt horrible, because he knew Josh was broken, probably was broken, but he had shrugged it off when Josh said he was okay. And he didn’t want Josh to be broken. He wanted him to be happy.

Tyler kissed the top of his head. “I’m sorry kitten, I know it was horrible there. I know, and I’m so sorry I didn’t realize you were hurting earlier. You don’t have to be strong all the time, it’s okay to get stuff off your chest. I wasn’t strong until you helped me get strong. And I can’t relate to everything you went through, but I only want to help. I want to help you adjust to this new lifestyle as best as possible. And I know things are hard, they’re going to be hard, but you just gotta remember I’m always going to be here for you. I’m never, _never_ , going to leave you. I love you so much Joshua.”

Josh nodded his head and rubbed his eyes before he tried to adjust his position. He wasn’t sure why he kept doing that when he knew it was going to hurt.

“I brought dinner. I wasn’t sure what you wanted so I got a little bit of everything. Tacos and burritos and stuff. Oh! And I got you that soda you like.”

“Baja?” Josh perked up a little bit as Tyler shuffled to the other side of the room to retrieve their dinner. He shoved the cup his way.

Josh sighed happily as he gulped it down. It felt like he hadn’t had that in five thousand years. “S’good.”

“Let me try.” Josh pushed the cup his way, moving so he was leaning against his elbows. Tyler took a sip, letting a small moan escape his lips.

“Damn, that’s good.”

“I know.”

Tyler nudged the bag his way. “Eat something. And pick something out for me. I don’t remember anything.”

“Okay.” Josh rifled through for about a minute, deciding what Tyler would enjoy. He finally decided on a bean burrito, pulling out a taco for himself. “Here.”

He watched carefully as Tyler unwrapped his burrito and bit into it, eyelids fluttering as he sighed happily again. “I love you.”

“Good, right?” Josh was smiling. “Thank you. For getting this.”

“Anything for you. Sorry you hurt. And things are a little hard right now.”

Josh shrugged as he bit into his own taco. He replied after he swallowed. “I don’t mind hurting. I love you too much for that. And sorry for dumping all of it on you at once. I’m an emotional loser.”

“Oh dude, if you want to talk about emotional losers, I’m your number one.” They both laughed softly. Tyler watched Josh eat. “You’re so pretty Josh. How did I get so lucky?”

“You bought me Taco Bell.”

Tyler rolled his eyes, throwing his balled up wrapper at Josh’s face. It smacked him in the nose and rolled of the bed.

“Ow.”

“Oh shut up, that didn’t hurt.” Tyler grinned. He reached into the bag for another. “Do you still want to have practice? Because we can wait. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“We can still do them. They’re good for me. But I do like rewards sometimes.”

“I think I could be of some service in that department.” Tyler winked, causing Josh to choke on his food and duck his head in embarrassment. “What? You asked!”

“I know I know. I’m just a weird loser.”

“That you are.”

“You know how you said you wanted to get matching tattoos? Cause you’re a sappy loser?”

Tyler scoffed, faking mock hurt. “Okay, rude.”

“What would you want to get?”

“Something simple. I don’t want it to be extremely huge. None of mine are extremely huge though.”

“I like yours. They’re pretty.”

“Right, cause that’s what I was going for. But thank you. Yours are pretty too.”

“Lame.”

“Maybe like an X or something? I think that’d work. Like X marks the spot. Because you helped me find treasure.”

“God, you are emotional loser number one.”

“You’re mean.”

Josh laughed. “I like that. We can do that.”

“Cool.”

They were silent after that, the only sounds coming from them eating or balling up wrappers and shoving them into the bag. When they both finished, Tyler dropped all the trash onto the floor. “I’ll clean it up later,” he promised before pressing farther into the bed. He strung an arm protectively over Josh, who placed his head back on Tyler’s stomach. Tyler closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.

“I love you Ty.” Josh said suddenly.

“I love you too.”

“Thank you. For everything.”

“You know I’d do anything for you.”

Josh smiled. “I know.”


	23. 023

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter. I can't believe we've made it this far.
> 
> Thank you all for all the support you've given this. The response was incredible and something I never thought would ever happen.
> 
> So I'm posting the epilogue tomorrow, and then we can talk prequels about characters. Anyone you'd like to see me do first?
> 
> Also, I hope you'll stick around. I've got another idea in the making I really think you'll enjoy.

"Okay, you guys know the basic rules of arm wrestling, right?" Pete asked with a shit-eating grin on his face as he leaned forward on his elbows. Josh and Zack sat at a table in the dining room, the rest of the residents gathered around them in a small crowd. Pete was finally getting to see who was stronger.

"Come on Josh, you got this," Tyler cheered, earning a playful glare from Zack. Josh rolled his eyes.

"Everyone knows how to arm wrestle. Come on!"

"Okay jeez. Fine, you can go."

The minute Pete finished his sentence Zack pushed forward, trying to bend Josh's arm down to the table, but Josh was actually managing to keep his arm upright. Zack blinked in surprise.

"Wow, how are you doing that?" He loosened his grip in astonishment, giving Josh the perfect opportunity to push the other way. Zack grunted as he pushed back up.

"Someone who matches Merrick's strength! Who would have guessed?" Rian said from the front of the crowd. He was watching with his arms crossed, grinning. Josh narrowed his eyes, trying to contain his focus on winning. His arm was starting to shake, and was getting dangerously low to the table top.

"Is it hurting you?" Zack asked, and he genuinely sounded worried. Josh shook his head.

"Nope, all good." He pushed up, but Zack had the upper hand and slammed down, declaring himself the winner. The crowd cheered.

Zack offered his hand for a handshake, to which Josh accepted. "That's impressive man. I'll have to be careful now that there's two of us." He winked, leaning back in his chair. Josh chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, I didn't realize..."

"If you ever want any pointers or anything, I can help you out. I've been there." He flashed a sympathetic grin and pushed out of his chair. The crowd began to disperse.

"Gerard and you next," Pete chanted as he bobbed up and down, but Tyler shook his head.

"Give him a rest Pete, he's still figuring things out."

"Some other time," Josh agreed. Pete scowled.

"Fine." He glanced over at Patrick, who raised an eyebrow and grinned. Pete grinned back and the two of them disappeared down the hallway to their bedroom.

"It's so weird they can do that now," Tyler commented quietly. Josh nodded.

"They're lost in their own little world. Which isn't too bad, I guess."

"I guess we can technically do that too. But a different way. And it requires a lot more effort."

"Oh, that's right." Josh had forgot about that. He tugged on Tyler's hand and pointed down the hallway. "I wanna try something." Tyler didn't ask why, just shrugged and followed him back to his bedroom.

When they made it to Josh's room, he pushed down on Tyler's shoulders to make him sit on the bed and leaned his forehead against Ty’s.

"What are we doing?"

Josh shushed him and closed his eyes. He wanted to see if he could make this work. Tyler remained quiet all through the process. Josh was thinking really hard about what he wanted Tyler to see.

"Josh?"

"Shhh!!!"

"What-"

"Shhh!!!"

It wasn't working. He stood back with a sigh. Tyler gave him a small smile, standing up from the bed to give Josh a hug.

"Were you trying to-"

"Yeah."

Tyler tapped the side of his head. "Gotta clear your mind. Think really hard and be clear about what you want to project. Here." He reached for Josh's hand, taking it tightly. Josh closed his eyes and felt that familiar sensation of getting the wind knocked out of him as he was placed on a bench inside a school gym. There were a bunch of kids playing basketball.

"Hey Ty, did you see Jenny today? Wasn't she looking hot?" The kid sitting next to him asked with a grin. He looked to be about 12 or 13. Josh could immediately tell he was human. Funny, for some reason he assumed Tyler would never interact with anyone human.

Josh realized he was once again Tyler. It had been awhile since he had done this.

Tyler shrugged. "I guess. I don't understand that word, hot."

The kid rolled his eyes. "That's cause you're the oldest in your family. You know my brother? He's almost 17 and he tells me all the things to look for in a girl. We're going to be really prepared for high school man."

"Sure."

"Come on dude, you don't think any girls are hot? What are you, an alien?"

"Probably."

"Tyler!" He whined, dragging out the syllables. Tyler stared at the court at all the kids running back and forth passing the ball.

"Sorry Nick, I just don't have an interest in girls. I'm only 13. I don't know."

Nick sighed, slumping against the bleachers behind him. "What about guys? Do you have an interest in guys? Cause my mom says that's a sin if you do. But I'm not gonna tell her if you do."

Tyler shrugged again. "Beats me. Only thing I have an interest in is basketball. When the right person comes to me I'll worry about it. When I'm an adult and stuff."

Nick looked suspicious. "Are you gay Tyler?"

"I don't know."

"I won't tell anyone if you are."

"I. Don't. Know."

"Joseph! Get on the court!" The coach called from the other side of the gym. A kid tossed Tyler the ball as he stood up, and the scene was disappearing back to the familiarity of Josh's white washed walls. He gasped for air, feeling comfort at Tyler's hand on his back.

"You good?" He asked, to which Josh only nodded. "Sorry to put you in shock there. I'm not really sure why I showed you that memory. But yeah."

"Basketball, huh?" Josh responded. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood up straight, taking some of his weight off of Tyler.

"Yeah. I played it when I was little. But then you know who came around, so."

"You had to stop." Josh sighed. "Let me try again, okay? Please."

"You don't have to ask me to try, kitten." Tyler smiled. "Go for it."

So Josh closed his eyes and cleared his mind, just like Tyler had told him. He thought of what particular memory he wanted to show him and went from there. And suddenly, they were both whisked into Josh's childhood home.

Josh knew Tyler was seeing all of this from his eyes, but for Josh it was like he was a ghost or something watching from the sidelines. He remembered this night very vividly.

Teenage Josh with his long curly dark hair and labret piercing sat at the dining table, hands in his lap as his parents glared at him from above.

"Arrested? Honestly Joshua? Honestly? It wasn't enough for you to just not do your homework and ditch school, or come home drunk or sneak out of the house, you had to get caught smoking marijuana? Drugs Josh? Is that what you've resorted to?" His dad's voice was rough and loud. His mother was crying.

"We've done nothing but love and care for you baby, and this is what you're doing? Why are you acting out? Is it for attention?" Josh's mother's voice was laced thick with hysteria and hard to understand, but Josh understood all of it.

"You've always been disappointed in me without any reason. I've never been good enough for you. Nobody in this house, not even Abby or Ashley or Jordan and it doesn't matter in the end. Nothing I do is ever going to matter. So I'm giving you reasons to hate me."

"You're ungrateful and selfish Joshua, and you have been your entire life. We should have left you in prison to rot forever. That's where you're going to end up you know. Too stupid for college, too stupid for a job, too stupid to find anybody to love. Nothing but a piece of shit."

Josh hung his head, focus on picking dirt out of his fingernails. His father wasn't done.

Suddenly Josh was being hoisted up out of his chair and slammed against the wall, his father's fist making contact with his face. A horrible cracking sound rang out, earning a small sob from his mother. Josh struggled to get out of his dad's grasp, but he wasn't going anywhere. He got hit in the face again.

"You're worthless to our family, a pathetic excuse for a son. You're right Joshua, you never were important. You're impractical, a sinner, and an evil piece of trash. This was the last straw. Get out of our house and never come back."

"Honey," his mother shouted, tugging on her husband's arm. Josh could see his siblings peeking around the corner of the dining room, fear in their eyes. "He's only a child, he has no where to go!"

"18 is the legal adult age, and if he thinks his lifestyle is perfect then he can get the fuck out of our house and never come back. You're nothing but a disappointment." He shoved Josh to the floor, kicking him in the stomach for good measure before turning to go into the kitchen. "If you're here in the morning, I'm calling the police."

Josh was crying. His mother was weeping but making no attempts to help her son. She only stared at him with disappointment in her eyes before following her husband through the kitchen door.

That was the night Josh filled a book bag with clothes and what little money he had earned from flipping burgers at the fast food joint down the street and took off into the city by bus. That was where he wandered into a bar, planning on using his fake ID to get a beer, but instead discovered an operation that would not only earn him money for a living, but get revenge at his parents. A "fuck you" moment. He changed his entire identity. Got rid of one piercing to exchange it for another, dyed his hair orange, started working on his tattoo sleeve, and listened to every instruction given as he gained new scars and bruises and cuts.

That was the night Josh ruined his life.

Tyler was staring intently at Josh once he brought them back to reality, eyes crinkled with worry. Josh was fine though. It was a while ago, and things were better now. Kind of. He wondered what his parents would say if he showed up ignited in flames.

"I'm so sorry," Tyler finally murmured into the silence. Josh only shrugged.

"Thought you deserved to know a little about my life."

"Well uh, thank you. That means a lot."

"I don't blame my family you know. I don't blame my dad for what he did. I understood that I was poison in my family's life. I was stupid and dumb and made a lot of bad choices. That was all on me."

"Hey, don't say that." He wrapped his arms around Josh, allowing him to bury his head in the crook of Tyler's neck. "He shouldn't have hit you either way. That wasn't your fault. Did he hit you a lot?"

"No. That was the first time."

Tyler sighed. "Teenagers make plenty of dumb decisions. Look at me."

"You had an excuse." Josh pushed out of Tyler's grasp so he could look at him. "Besides, I've got a new family now."

"That's right. And we'll all take care of our precious flame boy."

Josh scowled. "I hate you."

"No you don’t." Tyler leaned in to kiss him. “How are you feeling by the way? It’s been a few days.”

“Sore, but at least I can sit down now. Man, it’s going to feel so good next time Brendon teases me and I can-” Josh stopped talking. He could hear people outside the door.

“You hear that too I assume?” Tyler paused, craning his neck to try and listen better. “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

Josh yanked open the door and let it bang against the wall to reveal Pete, Patrick, Brendon _and_ Mikey all crowded outside their room. Josh crossed his arms and frowned.

“Uhh...” Brendon’s face turned bright red as he moved a few steps back. “I was just telling them not to crowd around your door and eavesdrop, because that’s wrong! What the hell guys!”

“I was just walking by,” Mikey argued, his face equally as red. “Nothing to see here.”

Pete rolled his eyes. “They were here first.” Patrick nodded.

“Okay but what are you doing here?” Tyler appeared next to Josh, looking just as upset. He waved his hand in a gesture for them to explain.

“We just wanted to know what was going on,” Brendon started, eyes flickering between an unhappy Tyler and an unamused Pete. “We were curious.”

“Cause you both left, and Brendon said some stuff has been going on,” continued Mikey.

“They just wanted to know if you were doing it.” Pete concluded, dragging a hand down his face. Patrick was grinning, and Josh was 99.9% sure he knew what he was thinking at the moment.

“Oh dudes,” Tyler sighed, running a hand through his hair. “That’s fucked up.” Josh could feel himself increasing in temperature. But hey, he was going to stay calm about it, because he had to rub that in Brendon’s face.

“Hey!” Brendon threw his arms up in defense, “We just wanted to know, because Josh seemed to be doing okay, right? And-”

“Nope! Don’t explain.” Tyler groaned loudly. “It’s still messed up.”

“Oh come on, we’re friends. You’d do that to us.”

“Are you stupid? I would never do that. Do you really think I stand outside your door waiting to see if I can hear you and Spencer having sex? We’d be able to tell. You’d blow the lights out.”

Brendon stuck out his tongue. “Ok, well Josh would start a fire.”

“Ha! He didn’t.” Tyler immediately slapped a hand over his mouth at his slip up as Josh turned even more red. Let’s be real, he was never going to tell Brendon.

Brendon laughed loudly as everyone else broke out in smirks. “Oh my god! You guys totally slept together! Oh my god!”

“You happy now?”

Brendon grasped the wall as he tried to catch his breath. “I gotta know. Who tops?”

“And you’re out. Goodbye.” Tyler shoved Brendon out the doorway, who was still laughing hysterically as he tripped over his feet and fell to the floor.

“Sorry boss,” Pete apologized as he scratched awkwardly behind his ear. He tugged on Patrick’s arm and they turned to leave. “But congrats.”

“Oh boy. I’m so touched.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “Get out of here.” Pete waved and they turned the other way, Mikey following them. He suddenly turned around and shouted “Sorry!” before running ahead of Pete and Patrick.

Which still left asshole Brendon laughing on the floor.

“Josh?” Tyler asked with a sly smile, but Josh was already two steps ahead. He let his hands explode into flames and casually leaned against the doorframe.

Brendon stopped laughing. He swallowed loudly and backed away before using the wall to hoist himself up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

And it hit Josh why Brendon was so afraid. “Shit.” he let the flames go out. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking, Sorry. Fuck. I’m sorry.”

“Oh God.” Tyler smacked his forehead with his palm. “Sorry!”

“No. I went too far, that wasn't right of me.” Brendon took a deep breath, deciding to change the subject. “Why don’t we do matches tonight? Josh can light torches and we’ll do it by candlelight.”

“That actually doesn’t sound too bad. You up for that Josh?”

“Uh...” the last time they did sparring matches, Josh almost died. So.

“Tyler isn’t going to kill you. Nobody is going to kill you.” Brendon cocked his head to the side. “Can you even die?”

“Don’t talk about that.” Tyler sighed audibly. “Jesus, do you even have a filter?”

“Nope.” He smiled cheekily. “‘Sides, you’re like us now. I mean, you’re practically as strong as Zack, probably as fast as Gerard, and you can set fire to anything. You also have some combat training I’ve been told, right?” He looked to Tyler for confirmation who nodded. “So there. You’ll beat someone for sure. Probably not me, but someone.”

Tyler scoffed. “Don’t get cocky.”

“Eh, why not. Sure.” Josh agreed. Brendon threw an arm around his shoulders in triumph.

“Rad. Love you bro.”

“Sorry again. I forgot. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“I know you’d never hurt me purposely dude. It’s all good. Don’t dwell in the past.” he patted Josh’s back. “I’m going to go tell everyone. Oh, and let’s get pizza.”

“Tell Mikey.” Tyler instructed. He pulled Josh away from Brendon and back towards the bedroom. “We’re busy.”

Brendon raised an eyebrow and bit his lip, but nodded his head. “Have fun you lovebirds.” Then he skipped down the hallway singing loudly and off key. Tyler shook his head.

“He’s an idiot.”

Josh agreed.

 

\---

 

Later that night after a long makeout session that ended in something a little more heated, Josh and Tyler joined the rest of the household in the sparring field. Josh had to adjust his shirt collar slightly as he traveled with Dallon to light all the torches at the corners of the field. He hadn’t talked to Dallon in a while.

At the first torch, Josh lit his hands, creating a blast of light. Everyone turned to look at him in shock; some looked impressed. He didn’t like everyone looking at him. Josh still didn’t like attention in general actually.

“He’s not a circus freak,” Tyler yelled from the other side of the field, and the crowd filled with murmurs as everyone went back to their conversations. Josh mentally thanked Tyler as he turned back towards Dallon, who was holding the torch.

“You doing alright?” Dallon seemed worried.

“I’m completely fine,” Josh assured him. As soon as the torch was lit, Dallon stuck it back in the dirt and they moved to the next one. He was still staring curiously at Josh, like he was debating on whether or not to believe him.

“You’re adapting alright? Feeling okay? I’ve been resisting the urge to dig around in your emotions, just in case.” Dallon reached out to touch Josh, but he shrugged out of the way.

“Too hot,” he explained, raising a flame ignited fist. “You’ll burn yourself. But thanks. And yeah. Tyler’s been helping me out, everything is fine, I promise.”

“Well good. I’m glad everything is okay. And that you’re okay. You seen to be learning quickly.” He held the torch so Josh could light it.

“Yeah, things have gotten better. And Tyler and I are working. It was hard, trust me. It’s still hard. But knowing I have help is nice.”

“I’m here too, if you need me. I’m always gonna be here.”

Josh smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

After they finished lighting all the torches, Josh took about five minutes and three failed attempts before he managed to put the flames out before once again joining the rest of the group. He was stretching when Mikey appeared on top of one of the picnic tables balancing a stack of pizzas in his hands.

"I've got pizza!" He said with a grin, raising his arms slightly. The crowd cheered as the pizzas began being passed down to the table top and Mikey climbed down. Everyone grabbed a few slices before sitting down and chatting. Josh stood awkwardly off to the side, waiting for everybody to move out of the way before he got dinner. To be honest, he was a little nervous he might crispify his slice. And nobody ever wanted to ruin pizza.

Mikey clasped Josh on the shoulder, jolting him back into reality with a startled jump. Josh sighed in annoyance once he realized who it was. Mikey was grinning ear to ear as he took the largest bite he could muster, giving Josh a front seat view of his mouth's disgusting contents.

"Hey, did you get dinner?" Mikey asked once he swallowed and Josh has shoved him away with a groan. He shook his head.

"Not yet, but I will. I'm just, uh, waiting." His eyes wandered over to the now mostly empty pizza boxes strewn across the table. There didn't seem to be much left. That's okay, he wasn't very hungry anyways.

"Whatcha waiting for?"

"Everyone to uh, be finished I guess." Even though everyone was already done getting their food.

"Hey man? I know I haven't really talked to you about you know, how things are and stuff, but I'm really glad you're okay. I'm really glad you're here, and that I left the door unlocked that day. I really think you've changed a lot of lives here. And I'm really glad we're friends."

Josh could feel his face turning red. He didn't think he had done anything influential since coming here, but it was nice to know someone thought of him that way. "Thanks Mikey. That means a lot."

"And if it means anything, I really think your powers are cool." He grinned. "And Tyler. You guys compliment one another. Soulmates for sure."

"You think so?" Tyler appeared next to them, two slices of pizza stacked on top of each other in one hand. He gave them to Josh. "Thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks." Josh took a bite, sighing with pleasure because pizza was always so damn good no matter what, and it had been a while since he had it. He ate as Mikey answered.

"Totally. He helped you, you're helping him, you know what he's thinking, and vice versa. You don't see stuff like that very often man. It's like a once in a lifetime thing. You're good for each other."

"Thanks Mikey. That means a lot. And thanks for never giving up on me. You were always there man, and I know it was hard sometimes."

"I'm just glad you're doing okay. I knew you could pull through. You're a strong fellow." Mikey winked before jabbing a thumb over to where Patrick, Pete, Spencer, Brendon, and Ryan were gathered in a circle. "I'm gonna go see what's up. Take care man!"

"You too," Tyler fumbled over his words, his voice getting carried away in the slight breeze as Mikey darted between people to get to his group. He looked over at Josh, who currently had a mouthful of cheese and pepperoni. "That's hot," Tyler started laughing as Josh ducked his head to avoid having everything fall out of his mouth. Once he swallowed, Josh wiped his mouth and turned back around.

"I try."

"Oh yeah. I can tell." He leaned forward to kiss Josh's cheek before briefly nuzzling his head in his shoulder. "I gotta do something really fast. You sure you're okay with doing the games?"

"I'm sure. I'm okay with it, I promise."

Tyler looked unconvinced. "If at anytime you need to stop, just call game okay? No one's going to make fun of you for it. We all understand."

Josh wanted to roll his eyes, but he knew Tyler was really worried about him. So instead, he gave him a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I got it."

Tyler squeezed his hand before heading towards the rest of the crowd. Josh leaned against one of the picnic tables, eyes scanning to see who he might be put up against. Brendon would probably land him in the hospital, he wasn't sure if he could hit Hayley and not feel guilty about it, Mikey would be a little shit... The only person he felt he really could fight was Tyler. Would that be lame?

"Hey everyone?" Josh was surprised to see that Tyler was standing on one of the picnic tables, the fire casting shadows on half of his face. He ran a painted hand through his hair, turning it into a mussed mess. Josh swallowed as he eyes met Tyler's for a split second.

The crowd gathered tightly around the table in curiosity to what Tyler, of all people, would say. Everyone was mostly finished eating; would he be the one announcing the games?

"I just wanted to say a few words." Tyler looked around the crowd, smiling slightly at all the people looking back at him. His family. And Josh, standing in the back with his arms crossed. He took a deep breath.

"This place, it's been around a long time. It was created to be an escape away from the fear and judgement, but it became so much more. It became the place we called home. Each of us, we have our problems. But we've all brought one another up, helped each other out, made things better. And I know I haven't always been there for you guys, but you still believed in me, and I can't thank you enough for that. It doesn't matter if you've been here since the beginning," he gestured to Pete and Patrick, both who were beaming, "or you're new," his attention turned towards David, who had his arms strung over Lou and Soren's shoulders, "we're a family. We can get through everything that's thrown our way, inside and out. Together."

He grinned, satisfied with his words.

"Love you Ty!" Brendon shouted out from the back, his arm slung around Spencer's shoulders. Tyler rolled his eyes.

"Love you too." Tyler climbed down, letting everyone pat him on the back and tell him what they felt needed to be said. Josh hung back, waiting, when he suddenly felt an arm slide across his shoulders.

Pete.

"Hey man. How you doing?" His voice was kind, eyes crinkling at the corners. Pete was genuinely happy. Josh hadn't seen that since coming here.

"I'm doing good. How are you doing?"

Pete sighed happily, his eyes wandering over to Patrick across the way. He was currently listening to Mikey tell astory with a lot of movement. "You know what Josh? For the first time in a long time, I'm doing better than fine. I'm happy. We're happy, 'Trick and I. We have a much deeper emotional connection now, and that, well, it's just nice, you know?"

"That's really good. I'm really happy for you Pete." And he was. Pete had ended up being one of his closest friends, and to someone who felt he never really had any close friends, that was important to Josh.

"I know at the beginning I was the biggest fuckface there ever was, but I'm real glad to have met you man. You did a lot for Patrick and me, and I can't thank you enough for all you did for Tyler. You changed his life so much, and I don't even want to think where he'd be if it wasn't for you. I've known that kid for a long time, and not even I could help him. So thank you, for everything."

"Oh uh..." Josh was turning red. "Thank you. I just you know, accidentally walked in. Thought he was cute. So."

Pete laughed loudly. "Well, it sure is a good thing you thought he was cute."

"Yeah." He rubbed his neck awkwardly, not knowing what to say in situations like this. He let out a breath in relief when Tyler jumped on the both of them with a loud yell.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Sex," Pete dead panned, and Josh turned more red. Tyler laughed mockingly.

"Yeah, okay. Really, what are you talking about?"

Pete raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply. He only patted Josh on the back and leaned in to whisper "get some tonight bro," before scattering back to Patrick. Josh shook his head, but a small grin still made its way onto his face.

Tyler narrowed his eyes. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Sex," Josh shrugged, still smiling. Tyler scoffed.

"You versus me tonight."

"I was planning on that. But we all know who's going to win." For some reason, Josh felt like being cocky.

"Oh, poor baby. You think you actually stand a chance." Tyler leaned in, gently resting his fingertips on Josh's jaw, teasing him. "Don't forget who taught you everything you know." Tyler’s  breath was warm on Josh's face, and he wanted nothing more than to close the gap. But if Josh did that, he'd be giving in and that was exactly what Tyler wanted. So he couldn't, no matter how full and inviting Tyler's godforsaken lips looked.

"If I win," Josh started, and he couldn't believe he was about to say this, "You gotta blow me."

"Please. That's never going to happen. So when I win, I'm going to torture you." He leaned in closer until their lips were barely touching. "I'm going to bring you to the edge, and you won't be able to cross over. You're going to beg and plead," Tyler began trailing his fingers up Josh's arm, his voice dropping into a seductive husky tone, "and I'm not going to give it to you."

"Good thing you're not going to win." Josh swallowed, closing his eyes to avoid Tyler's smokey smirk. He didn't need to get a boner right before he was going to be expected to move around. That would be horrible.

Tyler laughed softly, finally closing the gap between them. His hand slid to Josh's ass as he kissed leisurely.

Then he was pulling away right as Josh went into deepen it.

"You son of a bitch," Josh muttered at Tyler's smug expression. Tyler only shrugged.

"Sorry Josh, but you're not going to win." Then he was flaunting away, leaving Josh to get over the fact that yeah, he was probably going to lose.

Five minutes later Mikey was standing in the middle of the field and shooing everyone to the edges. It was time. Oh god, it was time.

"Alright!" Mikey shouted, looking all around at everyone around him. "We're starting. Any bets that need to be settled?"

"Right here!" Pete called out, pointing over to Tyler, who was standing across the field, opposite of Josh. He sighed. Had Tyler really told him about that?

"Sweet! Then Dun and Joseph, you are up!"

The crowd broke out into applause and whistles as the two took their corners. Tyler rolled his sleeves up as Mikey explained the rules everyone already knew. Instead of listening, Josh was focusing on strategies and the fact that Tyler looked really fucking attractive.

_You ready?_

That was Tyler. In his head. Fuck.

Josh nodded, clenching his fists with a smirk as they burst into flames. Tyler's eyes shifted over to their infamous ruby red.

Mikey raised a hand. "Fight!"

A new life with new friends and new family. A new life with the person he loved.

_Fight._


	24. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are folks.
> 
> I posted the first prequel already, check that out if you feel like it. It's titled "We Light the Fires but We Don't Put Them Out," and I'll post in there time to time.
> 
> I hope you'll stick around.

"Guess who," Josh teased as he slid his hands over Tyler's eyes. Tyler fumbled forward at the sudden lack of sight, his hands reaching out to touch Josh's. They were abnormally warm.

"What are you doing?" Tyler was suspicious. When Josh got too warm, something was up. Tyler hadn't seen Josh all day; Josh had been out with Patrick and Pete doing who knows what. Tyler wasn't allowed to come, so he sat in Josh's room pouting the whole time. In fact, besides this morning at breakfast, this was the first time Tyler had seen Josh.

"Why were you in here anyways? I thought you'd be downstairs or sulking somewhere." Josh moved his hands away, sliding them down Tyler's arms. One stopped to trace the tiny "x" he now had on his bicep. Josh had his behind his ear. He remembered that day so vividly.

"I'm not going anywhere ever," Tyler had whispered into his ear with a grin before leaning into kiss him. Josh knew he meant it.

Present day Tyler let out a groan and flopped onto the bed away from Josh's touch. "I have been sulking. In here. All day. Because you left me. 'Cause you're a meanie."

"I'm not a meanie. Would a meanie have a surprise for you?"

Tyler sat up, eyes narrowing at Josh's smirk. He folded his arms across his chest. "That depends on what the surprise is."

"Wouldn't be a surprise if I told you what it was, now would it?"

"Jooooooosh!" Tyler groaned again, pressing a hand against his forehead. Josh rolled his eyes. He leaned over to quickly kiss Tyler on the cheek before hoisting him up by one arm. Tyler was still grumbling as Josh slid his hands back over his eyes. "I forgot how strong you actually are."

"Did I hurt you?" Josh loosened his touch, voice thick was worry. Tyler shook his head.

"No, I just forgot. Where are we going?"

Josh sighed with relief. He started nudging Tyler towards the door, pulling it open with his foot and shifting Tyler towards the stairs.

"Surprise," Josh stated, but Tyler could figure it out now.

"My room? What, are you planning on having-"

"No," Josh swiftly cut him off, stumbling on the stairs which sent Tyler slipping himself. Josh steadied the two of them and took a deep breath. "You good?"

"You're a nerd."

"Shut up." Josh helped him the rest of the way down the stairs before sliding his arm over Tyler's eyes and using his other to open the metal door. The minute he had it propped open, his hands returned back to their normal position.

"Did Pete and Patrick play a role in this surprise? Did you decorate my bedroom in rose petals and condoms?"

"Will you shut up?"

"I'm just curious. Can't I guess?"

"Your guesses are terrible."

"Does it have anything to do with sex?"

"No Tyler, it had nothing to do with sex. Stop guessing. You're being annoying."

"Jeez, I'm so sorry." Tyler scoffed in mock hurt, placing a hand on his chest. Josh stopped moving. Tyler heard him take a deep breath.

"Okay, on the count of three you can look." Tyler nodded under Josh's palms. "One, two... Two and a half, two and three quarters..."

"Joshua Dun if you don't stop it right now I'll-"

"Three," Josh finished with a grin. He pulled his hands away and jammed them in his pockets as Tyler blinked.

In front of him stood a black keyboard, complete with a shiny finish. It even had a giant red bow on top.

Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but no sound was coming out. His eyes were wide as he rested his fingertips on the white keys.

"Do you like it?" Josh asked, leaning forward to see Tyler's expression. Tyler was still mesmerised by the fact there was a piano in his room now. A real life piano. He couldn't even remember the last time he had seen a piano.

Instead of answering, Tyler swung around and slid his a hand behind Josh's neck, kissing him as hard as he could muster. Josh was chuckling at Tyler's reaction, but of course he kissed back.

"I assume you like it then?" They rested their foreheads together, Tyler picking a loose thread off Josh's tee.

"I love it. I love you. Oh my god." Tyler laughed loudly, his cheeks a tinted pink. Josh couldn't help but to smile at how happy Tyler was.

"Do you remember anything?"

Tyler pulled away, his attention going back to the keys. He placed his hands in what was hopefully a chord he thought he remembered. It had been awhile.

"I'm not sure. Maybe." Tyler pressed down, sighing happily at the right sound that rang out. That was it. That was a C chord, and it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"That sounds good."

"It's not a hard chord, but I can't believe I remembered that." He shifted his fingers up, resting them on a combination of white and black keys. Tyler cheered again as he successfully played another chord. Then another and another, and suddenly the memory of Beethoven's _Moonlight Sonata_ came flooding back to him. Josh watched, impressed as Tyler's hands flew across the keys.

Like he had been playing his whole life.

They were both quiet for a few minutes after Tyler finished, letting the last notes ring out and hang over them like a rain cloud. Tyler couldn't contain his excitement, no matter how hard he tried.

"Thank you Josh, thank you so much. I can't believe you did this. I love it. I love it so much. I love you so much." He wrapped his arms around Josh's waist and buried his face into his shoulder. Josh hugged back tightly, kissing the top of his head.

"I love you too. I'm so happy you liked it. Pete and Patrick said you might hate it but-mmph!" Tyler shut Josh up by kissing him again, eyelids fluttering as Josh melted against him. Josh thought the rockstar versions of themselves, somewhere in that alternate universe, would be proud of them. Never in a million years did Josh think he would be this happy. He wouldn't have believed anyone that said it. Tyler was grinning against his mouth, eyelashes against Josh's cheek and skin tinged pink.

"I love it."

 

 


	25. Round One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

Josh stared at his parents front door with great content and swallowed. The last time he had stood on his own front porch was a little over ten years ago.

“Are you sure about this?” Tyler’s voice was sharp against the frigid air. Although Josh was not cold from the weather, he sure felt cold on the inside. Empty. Scared. Nervous.

All of the above.

When Josh had told Tyler he was ready to visit his parents, most specifically his mother, Tyler had stared at him like he was crazy.

“Are you sure?” He asked, and Josh nodded his head.

“It wasn’t their fault I was a terrible child. They probably think I’m dead Ty. I haven’t seen them in such a long time. I gotta see them again. I gotta let them know I don’t hate them, that I don’t blame them for my mishaps. I need to let them know I’m doing okay.” Josh also wanted to tell his mother he was now some genetic radioactive freak. He thought she deserved to know. His mother was going to pass away one day, and Josh would still be alive long past then. He didn’t want her to die without knowing he was okay.

Josh didn’t tell Tyler that part.

So the two of them piled into Tyler’s car with some cash from the group’s savings, and with promise to return in a week, they took off from California and drove all the way to Ohio, making stops along the way for gas, food, the restroom, and sleep.

Traveling during the winter was probably not their best idea. Tyler was freezing most nights, and Josh had to provide all the heat for the two of them. He was perfectly okay with this, because that meant he could pull Tyler close, wrap his arms around him, and indulge on as much skin on skin contact as possible. It was his favourite feeling in the world to have Tyler next to him.

Now they stood on Josh’s childhood front porch, Josh wearing nothing but a thin jacket while Tyler had on a long, heavy black coat that reached his knees and a red beanie pulled down past his ears. He was shivering in the snow.

Josh pressed his free hand to his cheek, smiling softly when some of the colour returned to it.

“I’m a hundred percent sure about this. Don’t worry Ty. If anything goes wrong, we can abort the mission. I promise.”

Tyler sighed. “You’re a thousand times more braver than I am Josh. I admire you for that.”

Josh chewed on the inside of his lip as his eyes slid from Tyler’s face back to the front door. “You think she’ll freak out about my eyes?”

“Nah. Blame it on the lighting or something. Lots of people have dark eyes.”

Josh sighed again, pulling his hand away from Tyler to rub at his face. Then he leaned over and kissed Tyler on the cheek. “Thank you for being here with me.”

“You know I’d do anything for you.”

Josh smiled. “I know.” With one more shaky sigh, he reached forward and knocked on the door three solid times.

They both held their breath as shuffling came from inside, Josh gripping Tyler’s hand like a lifeline when the door finally opened. Josh felt sick to his stomach.

His mother looked pretty much the same, minus the fact that she had a few more wrinkles and grey hairs. She blinked a few times before a sob escaped her lips.

“Joshua?” her voice was shaky as she reached out to hug her son. Josh hugged her tightly back, tears starting to pour down his face as he laughed happily. Tyler watched from the sidelines with a smile on his face.

“I missed you so much baby,” she cried into his shoulder as Josh laughed again.

“I missed you too Momma.”

“You’re so warm.” she wiped her nose with the sleeve of her sweater as they pulled away, a small laugh coming from her this time. Snow was blowing in through the front door, and she seemed to notice. “Please, come in.”

Josh and Tyler both followed her into the house. It looked pretty much the same as Josh remembered, but felt emptier than last time. He kept expecting his siblings to come running down the stairs, but Josh knew that wasn’t going to happen. They were all older and living on their own. Probably married, if Josh had to guess.

“Your father is out with some friends at the moment, but he should be coming home soon.” Josh’s mother grinned, gesturing to the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll get some hot chocolate made for the both of you. You must be freezing.”

She disappeared into the kitchen and Josh looked at Tyler.

“You want to hang your coat up?”

Tyler looked around the living room nervously before nodding and sliding his coat off. Josh hung it up on one of the hooks with the rest of the coats, just as he had done when he was younger. A wave of nostalgia ran through him, and he felt frozen to the spot.

“Josh?” Tyler’s voice was gentle and comforting, and it made Josh break into another round of tears. Tyler wrapped his arms around Josh carefully, soothing him as his body shook with sobs. “It’s okay love, it’s okay. I know it’s difficult, but you’re so brave for doing this, and I know your mother appreciates it a lot. We don’t have to stay long, alright? Just what’s comfortable for you.”

Josh nodded before pulling away. He wiped his nose and rubbed at his eyes before dropping down to the couch. Tyler sat down next to him, eyes still shimmering with worry. He leaned forward for Josh’s hand before deciding that probably wasn’t the best idea. They were in public, and he didn’t know how Josh’s mother felt about their relationship. He didn’t even know if Josh planned on telling her they _were_ together. So instead, he slid his beanie off his head and ran a hand through his thick hair.

Three minutes later Josh’s mother came back in with three mugs neatly placed on top of a silver platter. She set it down gently on the coffee table and sat down herself in the chair across from the two, a nervous smile still on her face. Josh avoided her gaze and stared at his hands twisting in his lap as Tyler reached for one of the mugs. He took a small sip, sighing happily as heat spread throughout his body.

“Thank you Mrs. Dun, I appreciate this.”

“No problem. I apologize for my terrible introduction skills. What was your name?”

“Tyler.” he flashed a charming smile and leaned back against the couch.

“It’s nice to meet you Tyler.” she cleared her throat. “So Josh, what have you been up to since we last saw you? Where do you live? What do you do for a living?”

Josh only stared at her. He couldn’t bring himself to speak.

So Tyler did it for him.

“We live up in northern California actually. Josh and I manage an apartment complex.” Josh was impressed with Tyler’s hidden ability to lie to people so well. He had been debating what to say the entire drive up here.

“California! Oh my. How did you end up there?”

“I stayed in Ohio for a few years with a friend,” Josh started, and Tyler raised an eyebrow. As close as they were, Josh tended to stay away from his time in the drug business. His mother listened with great indulgence. “Then I decided to travel. Stayed in Indiana for a few months, then Missouri, then Nevada, and finally ended up in California. That’s how I met Ty here.” He cleared his throat and went back on trying to keep himself level headed. Josh could feel himself heating up having all this anxiety. He decided to take his jacket off to try and give him some air, and felt his mother staring at his intense tattoo sleeve. Josh’s parents never really placed an opinion on how they felt about tattoos, but that didn’t mean she liked them.

She blinked, opened her mouth to say something, closed it, and opened it once more. “Wow, uhm. That’s beautiful. Must have taken a while to do, huh?”

“Over the course of several years, yeah.” Josh bit down on his tongue and cursed mentally, because this entire exchange was extremely awkward. Tyler took another drink of his hot chocolate and tried to keep to himself.

“You dyed your hair too. it uh, it looks nice Joshie. I like it.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“When did you get that done?” She was trying her hardest, Josh had to give her that.

“Well it’s been a few colours actually. Orange, green, blue, purple, pink, and then the red.”

“You’ll have to show me pictures.” His mother forced a smile. It looked broken, and it hurt Josh terribly.

“Yeah. I can do that.” he cleared his throat. “So how’s everyone else?”

“They’re doing good. Very good. They ask about you sometimes. You’re not going to disappear out of the blue after this, are you?”

Josh chuckled softly and shook his head. “No, I won’t do that to you.” Although he was afraid he might have too.

“Good.” A pause. “Do you have a special someone sweetie? Any wedding information I might need to know about?” she winked, causing Josh’s face to turn a light shade of pink. He reached for Tyler’s hand and braced himself for his mother’s reaction.

“I’m uh, actually in a relationship with Tyler.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t seem upset. Only smiled, folded her arms, and replied, “That’s very nice. You better take care of him Tyler, or I’ll have to hunt you down.”

Tyler laughed. “Of course I’ll take care of him. That’s my job.” Tyler pulled his hand away and Josh knew he was starting to get a little too warm. He decided that was his cue to take things outside.

“Mom? Do you mind if I speak with you in private?” Tyler shot Josh a sideways look of suspicion, but said nothing about the matter. Josh’s mother nodded and pushed herself out of the chair. Together, they passed through the dining room. Josh remembered what happened in that room so long ago very vividly, and didn’t want to waste time dallying around in there.

She stopped in the kitchen to speak, but Josh only pointed to the door. “It’s better to do it outside.”

“Josh, it’s freezing outside.”

“Please.” He looked at her with a pleading gaze, one he knew would be irresistible. She sighed and left the room briefly to retrieve her coat. When she came back, Josh opened the door for her to step through.

“You’re not going to get a coat?”

“I’m good.”

“Josh, you’ll get hypothermia or something.”

He laughed loudly. “It’s fine mom, I’m plenty warm already.” _Finally_ she stepped outside unconvinced, and Josh closed the door tightly behind him. The backyard was covered in almost half a foot of snow, and was already starting to stick in their hair. It was quite strange, being out in freezing cold weather and being completely okay with it. That was still new to him, as it didn’t get very cold back where they lived.

His mother shivered, eyes scanning the dark landscape. “Okay, why are we out here?”

Josh took a deep breath. It would be hard, he knew that, but he had to do this. “Mom, a couple years ago something terrible happened to me. It was really difficult to adjust too, but Tyler’s been helping me out. He takes really good care of me Mom.” Another deep breath. “I don’t want you to freak out. I just think you should know.”

Her face was full of worry. “What happened baby?”

“Well, I should start off by saying that I don’t manage an apartment complex with Tyler. We do live in California though, with a bunch of other people.”

She nodded. Josh took another breath.

“Okay. A couple years ago, I found this place with all these people. They weren’t like us though. They were more advanced. Stronger, faster, smarter. And they all had these special skills that we wouldn’t even believe were real. Skills we are led to believe aren’t real.”

His mother’s face twisted in contortion. “What are you talking about?”

“They’ve got superpowers is what I’m talking about.”

She sighed and pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders. “Josh, that’s ridiculous.”

“It’s not. Listen. They wouldn’t let me leave because I knew about them. So I stayed with them, and I fell in love.” He smiled. “Tyler’s a good person Momma. I promise. But that’s besides the point. Anyways, I was there for a lot of months, and a ton of stuff happened. I ended up getting kidnapped and they did terrible, _terrible_ things to me Mom.” Josh couldn’t help it, and once again he started crying. “They hurt me. They put things into my body, transformed me into this heartless monster and had me hurt people. They made me not human anymore.”

Her voice was shaky. “Josh?”

“And I know you probably don’t believe me; I have a hard time believing me, but it’s all true. I had to tell you, had to let you know that I don’t blame you for what happened in my life. Let you know that I love you a whole lot, and I think you deserve to know what happened to me. I’ll understand if you’ll need me to leave.”

“Josh baby, you’re scaring me.”

“Just... let me show you, alright?” Josh took a step back and pulled his shirt off. After hanging it on the back doorknob, he closed his eyes and placed his hands directly in front of him.

Then he closed them into fists, and breathed through his nose as that familiar pulsing sensation of flame ran through his veins. Gold danced behind his closed eyelids and he shivered when his mother gasped.

“Josh,” she whispered, exasperated, “you’re on fire!”

He nodded, still not opening his eyes. Josh had been working on self control for almost three years now, but it was still difficult if he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings. That, and he didn’t want to see his mother’s panicked expression.

“It doesn’t hurt me. I’m practically made of heat as it is. I can get to boiling temperatures if I’m not careful. That’s why I’m not cold. They turned me into a radioactive freak.”

“Don’t say that baby.” her voice was gentle, and it made Josh want to break down into another round of tears. He ignored the wind, the snow, his mother, and everything else to put the flames out.

The minute he had, his mother was pulling him into a tight hug, and tears began rolling down his face. She held him protectively, allowing him to sob into her shoulder. It was difficult seeing her son this way, even after all those years.

“It’s so hard Mommy,” he hiccuped, “It’s so hard. I could set something on fire, or hurt someone, or kill them, or-”

“Shh Joshua, it’s alright baby. You’re strong, and you’re brave, and you’ve done everything you’ve ever set your mind too. I know you can get through this. I know it’s hard, but you’re already doing a good job, and you’ve got friends to help take care of you. This doesn’t make you any less of the good, heartfelt person you are. You’re still my Joshua, my baby, the bright light of my life, and you’re going to be this way in my eyes until the day I die. Don’t ever forget that.”

He hiccuped again and pulled away, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “Thank you Mom. That means a lot.”

“You know why we named you Joshua? Because he was a brave man, one with a lot of responsibilities put upon him, and we knew that you would grow up to be the same way. I knew from the minute I looked at you that you were meant for extraordinary things.” Josh dug his foot into the snow below them. His mother continued. “I love you a lot Josh. Don’t you dare think you can leave me for another decade and not hear the end of it.”

That caused him to laugh. “I love you too. Don’t worry, I won’t do that again.” the two fell silent, the only sound coming from the wind whistling through the trees. Josh watched the snow fall on his arm and immediately evaporate. He had to admit: it was kind of cool.

“So uh, is Tyler... like that?”

Josh stared at her for a few seconds before he realized what she meant. “Oh, you mean... yeah. He’s got powers too. His are... different than most people. But he’s very talented.”

“He’s probably worried out of his mind thinking about what we’re doing out here.”

That did sound like Tyler. “Probably. I didn’t tell him I was going to tell you. Their species are meant to be a secret.”

“I’m pretty good at secrets. Remember the time you begged me not to tell your girlfriend you were-”

“Okay okay, let’s not bring that up again. I believe you.” Josh rolled his eyes and reached to pull his shirt back on as his mother laughed loudly. They both went inside and headed back to the living room, where Tyler was still sitting on the couch, one leg crossed over the other. He smiled when he noticed they had come back into the room.

“Everything go okay?” he asked when Josh sat down on the couch next to him. Josh nodded.

“Just great.”

“You’ve got snowflakes on your eyelashes.” he reached over to dust them off, a loopy grin on his face. Josh blushed and turned to look at the floor. Tyler then leaned in to kiss him, firmly resting one palm on the back of his neck.

Suddenly Josh’s mother cleared her throat, and the two pulled apart, faces flushed with embarrassment. They had forgotten she was still in the room.

“Sorry,” Josh muttered, eyes falling back to his lap. She scoffed and waved a hand.

“Don’t apologize. You’re adorable.” She eyed Josh for a brief moment before switching her gaze over to Tyler. “You have a last name Tyler?

“Yes ma’am. It’s Joseph.”

“Joseph,” she repeated, looking up at the ceiling. “Well Tyler Joseph, I’d like to thank you for helping Josh with his little ‘problem.’” She made air quotes around problem, and Tyler cocked an eyebrow.

“What?”

“I told her,” Josh mumbled, and Tyler’s mouth formed a perfect little circle.

“Oh,” he said.

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. Just, thank you for taking care of him when I failed to do that myself.”

“You didn’t fail mom,” Josh started, but he got interrupted by the front door opening and his father coming in. He looked at the three of them sitting on the couch, and rubbed his eyes for confirmation that he wasn’t making all of this up.

“Josh?” he asked, and Josh nodded his head. Josh was beyond terrified. Last time he had saw his father he got beaten up and thrown out of the house. He understood why though. It took him a while, but he understood.

“Hi Dad.”

Surprisingly, his father was quick to embrace his son, and it didn’t take long before the two were crying happily at seeing one another. Mom watched with a smile on her face while Tyler was a bit more grim about the whole situation. He still held a grudge about Josh’s father hitting him.

“What are you doing here?” Dad asked the minute they let go. He looked over at his wife with narrowed eyes, obviously upset she didn’t tell him his eldest was home after ten years.

“I thought I’d come visit.”

“You thought you’d come visit.” his father scoffed, but the smile on his face remained. “It’s damn good to see you Josh. Damn good.” he pulled him into another hug.

 

 

Josh and Tyler stayed until midnight talking, laughing, and reminiscing in old times. They left with a phone number in tow and the promise to come back soon. His mother wanted Josh to stay longer, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do that. It was too dangerous.

“Bring Tyler with you next time you come,” Josh’s mother called as they trudged back down through the snow to the car. His father stood next to her, a smile still plastered to his face.

“I love you,” Josh called out to his parents. Tyler held his hand tightly next to him.

“We love you too.”

Then they climbed into Tyler’s car and drove off down the hole filled street, the heater at full blast as Josh looked out the window at all the passing houses.

“How you doing Josh?” Tyler asked, to which Josh only sighed.

“I’m fine. It was nice, getting to talk to them. I just wish the circumstances were different, you know?”

“Mmhmm.” Tyler pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek. “I’m still proud of you. You are strong, and I’m proud of you for telling her the truth. That must have been terrifying.”

“Well, I can tell you I haven’t cried as much as I did tonight in a while.” They both laughed quietly, and Josh pushed further into his chair.

“I might have to visit my parents now,” Tyler said. Josh nodded in agreement.

“Don’t feel obliged to forgive them Ty.”

“I don’t blame them for what they did. I was dangerous.” he shrugged nonchalantly. “I think I would tell them that. Let them know that I have control now. But that’s another journey for a different time.” Tyler leaned forward and turned on the radio, letting the low hum end their conversation.

 

 

After about two hours of driving, Tyler pulled off into a motel parking lot. He went and got a room and came back to wake up a sleeping Josh.

“I got us a room Josh.”

“Mmm,” Josh replied groggily. He lifted his arms up for Tyler to help him up. Tyler slung an arm around his shoulders and carefully maneuvered him to their room. Once inside, he turned on a lamp and pulled off Josh’s Converse and socks, then his jeans, and finally his shirt. He helped him under the covers, pulled his own clothes off, and snuggled in close to Josh, shivering in the coldness of the room. Tyler pulled the chain on the bedside lamp once more and plunged the room into darkness.

“I love you,” Tyler murmured quietly as Josh wrapped his arm tightly around him.

“I love you too.”


	26. Round Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I had been wanting to write this for a long ass time and something finally came to me, so I present the last thing I'll ever add to this story.
> 
> First, I'd like to dedicate this to a number of people: 
> 
> Mars, who has helped make me a better author and has been a great friend this past year. Thank you for all your kind words.
> 
> Sepia - damn, the insight you have for this universe blows my mind. Thank you for everything. (If you got a minute, check out literally everything they've written. My personal favourites are the mini LAM fics. ;) Find 'em at Pilotstille!)
> 
> Amber - without her, this story would not exist. Thank you for staying up all night with me talking about the crazy stuff that goes through my head.
> 
> To my best friend Tyler - I'm sorry for not telling you I was PastelMess until like a month ago. (Although your reaction was very entertaining.) Thank you for being my #1 fan and helping me get through all the struggles in my life. I love you man. 
> 
> And lastly, to every last person that has read this, shared this, posted this, recommended this, whatever - without you, this story would have never had the success it reached and I am still blown away to this day. Whenever I'm at my lowest point, your kind words and comments never fail to brighten my day. Thank you for everything.
> 
> I promise this is the last thing I'll post on this particular thingy; I just wanted to add one more part to the story. The LAM universe is sometimes a little hard for me to let go of.

He stared at peeling flakes of wood on the front door, with his fist raised, ready to knock. Wind blew gently around them, and with a sigh, Tyler lowered his hand. He should have known he was going to chicken out.

In all honesty, he was surprised his parents hadn’t moved away. He wondered how they had dealt with his old room with its deadlock and broken window.  _ Window probably isn’t broken anymore though,  _ he told himself, clenching his hand into a fist by his side.

“Ty-”

“Josh. Don’t start.” his hand unclenched once more as he turned towards the boy with the faded red hair. It had been several months since he had last dyed it, the red mostly a dull pink, and almost fully overcome by dark brown. It was the first time Tyler had ever seen so much of Josh’s natural hair color over the four years of knowing him. Josh claimed it was because he was looking into a new color and couldn’t decide, but secretly Tyler believed it was because he had mentioned he liked the brown the most.

Every time Tyler mentioned that, Josh would roll his eyes, but there was no hiding the heat that rose to his cheeks.

Now they stood outside Tyler’s childhood home, the house he had been trapped in, the house he had killed in, the house that had taunted him with false hope and a lack of purpose. He wasn’t going to lie, it took a lot for him to be here at this moment, and even a lot for Blurry. Blurry was still guilty by all means, and the guy was still an asshole, but he was quiet, which was weird and unusual. Tyler swallowed nervously and refused to turn around when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Tyler, please let me-”

“Josh. I said  _ don’t. _ I don’t want to hear it. I know what I’m doing. I know why we’re here. I don’t need your sympathy.” he shrugged Josh off of him and took another deep breath. Unlike Josh’s house, Tyler’s was much closer, and unlike Josh’s parents, Tyler’s had been afraid of him. He didn’t know what was going to happen. His parents could welcome him back with open arms, or scream and yell at him for leaving like he had.

“Okay dude. Sorry.”

Tyler sighed and reached to press fingers into his eyes. He had been stressed the whole day and especially driving over here. “Sorry J. I’m just... I’m stressed is all. Don’t mean to be a dick.”

“I understand,” Josh mumbled quietly, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

_ Just knock you idiot. _

Tyler rolled his eyes. Ah, there that little prick was. With one more deep breath, he forced himself to raise his hand. Blurry writhed inside him. Tyler held his breath, and relaxed only when Josh slotted his hand between the empty spaces of Tyler’s fingers. Everything was going to be fine.

He knocked rapidly, forcing himself to do so before he could back out. Tyler took another deep breath.  _ They’re only your parents, _ Tyler told himself,  _ you aren’t facing Godzilla. _

The door opened seconds shortly, almost like they had been expecting him to show up outside their doorstep. It banged loudly against the frame and Tyler looked upwards into the eyes of his father.

His father, who was clad in a large pair of black frames and whose salt and pepper hair stuck in fifty different directions. He had a faded orange stain on his white shirt and looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Can I help you?” his foot tapped rapidly. Tyler blinked. Really? His dad didn’t recognize him?

“It’s me,” Tyler replied, wiggling out of Josh’s grasp.  _ Guess you weren’t important enough to be remembered. _

“Tyler?” shock flashed across his face briefly before being replaced with nervousness. Tyler’s father was jumpy, that was for sure. “Uh, come inside. The neighbours across the street are getting suspicious.” he disappeared back into the living room, leaving Tyler to share a look of confusion with Josh. The two stepped in, Josh shutting the door behind them.

The living room looked exactly how it had the last time Tyler had been allowed downstairs to see it, except all pictures of him no longer existed. Maybe Blurry had been right. He really wasn’t important enough to be remembered.

Tyler dropped down onto the couch, Josh sitting next to him, close enough for their thighs to be touching. Secretly, Tyler was thankful for the closeness. Josh was his rock right now.

His father paced back and forth, muttering under his breath like a madman. Tyler wondered what the hell had happened to him. Suddenly, his father stopped, and sniffed a few times before wandering over to Josh. He sniffed some more, pushing his nose towards Josh’s shoulder.

“Uh...” Josh raised an eyebrow, pressing himself further into couch. “Is my deodorant not strong enough?”

“You aren’t human.” he backed off and folded his arms.

“Uhm, no?”

Tyler laughed loudly, slapping his forehead with a palm. Josh and his father looked at him weirdly.  _ Tyler, what are you doing? _

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he rubbed at his eyes, “this is just, definitely not the interaction I had in mind when I pictured showing up on my parent’s doorstep.”

“What do you want me to say Tyler? You left us with a broken window and two broken hearts. I haven’t seen you in over a decade.” Tyler scoffed, and his father shook his head in frustration. “Now look, this is very important. You tell me what your friend is.”

“It’s a long story,” Josh piped up. He got shushed.

“Tyler. Tell me what he is.”

“His name is Josh, and he’s right there!” Tyler yelled, digging his fingers into his hair. Blurry cackled.  “And he’s like us. Sort of.”

The gears started turning in his father’s brain. “Aha! I knew I could smell talent blood in him. But there’s human blood there too.” he spun Josh’s way. “What can you do?”

“Uh...” Josh blanked, his eyes wide. Tyler couldn’t tell if it was out of fear of being put on the spot or confusion to why he was being asked these questions. “I’m basically like the human torch...”

“But he’s also very strong and very fast.” Tyler cleared his throat. Josh fidgeted next to him.

“How strong and how fast?”

“Like... talent strong and talent fast.”

Tyler’s father narrowed his eyes. “Has this been tested?”

“Yeah, I mean, not like scientifically, but we know people. Josh has been pitted up against them and has matched their talents practically to a tee.”

“So you’re saying that you weren’t born like this.”

“Er... no.” Josh mumbled, his eyes falling to his lap. Tyler’s father sucked in a breath and immediately pivoted on his heel, once again mumbling to himself as he disappeared into the kitchen. All Tyler caught was “no” repeated several times, which was enough for him to follow, Josh tagging along behind him, still extremely confused.

“Dad, tell me what the  _ hell _ is going on!” he shouted, maneuvering around scattered kitchen chairs to head into the basement, where the door had at least ten different locks and chains so wore with tear that someone  _ had _ to be down there often.

And that person was Tyler’s father.

The basement had been turned into some sort of lab area, with erlenmeyer flasks and test tubes filled with different liquids and enough papers and files to burn a fire for a month. Not only that, but the floor was covered in food wrappers and dirty clothes and even  _ more  _ papers. Tyler picked up a completely rotted banana peel off a metal cabinet and let it drop to the floor, scrunching his nose up in disgust as he wiped his hand off on his jacket. “Dad, what the hell?”

His father had disappeared behind a desk and resorted to scattering papers and sending them fluttering to the floor. “Where is it, where is it, where is it?”

“Uhm, Mr. Joseph, I don’t mean to intrude or anything,” Josh spoke up, stepping over an unplugged waffle iron, “But I’m very confused.”

“Ha! Found it!” he pushed his glasses further up his nose and began to skim the file of papers he now had in his hands. “Josh, I don’t mean to alarm you, but you’re in danger.”

“That had the complete opposite effect on me.”

“Okay, for real. Drop the shit and explain what is going on right now.” Tyler’s voice was vociferous, a little bit of red swirling in his eyes. Blurry was getting rowdy being left out of the conversation, he could feel the pressure on his lungs and the tightness in his ribcage.

His father sighed. “Look. There’s a black market out there for humans. Talents buy and sell ‘em for the sole purpose of experimenting and trying to see how far they can get. Tyler, you know how most talents feel about humans.”

Josh’s eyes were wider than Tyler had ever seen, his skin paler than usual as sweat beaded on his forehead. “Are they... using them as slaves?”

“Some of them, yes. For most, no. People pay good money to get humans to experiment on, and to most talents, humans are nothing more than animal test subjects. The trade is fairly new. Now Josh,” he gestured towards the shaking man with the faded red hair, “you were born human?”

“Yeah.” his voice croaked. Josh cleared his throat. Tyler could tell how uncomfortable Josh was talking about this stuff. Over the few years, he had shoved it deep down inside of him, locked the chest and threw away the key. It was stuff Josh  _ never _ spoke about. “I uhm, I got kidnapped. Had stuff injected into me, had my muscles go taut and my nerves spaz and every part of my body hurt.” he swallowed again, squeezed his eyes shut. “Uh, they had people there, with talents that helped with the process. A guy that could manipulate brain use, take knowledge away from people, insert new thoughts into them. And then there was a guy who - he uh, I don’t exactly know how to explain it, but he had so much energy coursing through his veins, like, heat and stuff, and he, he-” Josh choked, ran a hand through his hair. Tyler frowned. He hated seeing Josh like this. “Sorry.” Josh sniffed. “He changed my whole chemical makeup. I’m technically not alive and I’m technically not dead.”

“State of limbo,” Tyler’s father murmured. Josh nodded his head.

“Yeah. Pretty much.” with a sigh, Josh wrapped his arms around himself and bowed his head, done with his end of the conversation. Tyler finally stepped closer, gently running his fingers across Josh’s arm. He was warmer than usual, but Tyler didn’t care.

“Who did this to you Josh?”

“Dad,” Tyler warned, knowing Josh no longer wanted to talk about this. His father didn’t care.

“Josh. I need to know.”

A few minutes of silence passed. Josh continued to shake, Tyler’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. Finally, Josh mustered up the courage to say his name. “Brent. Brent Wilson.”

Blurry growled. Tyler could feel him fighting, trying to claw his way up Tyler’s throat. He wanted control. He wanted anger and blood and more revenge for all the things Brent did to Josh.

His father’s eyes grew wide as he glanced back down at the file he was so intent on finding. “I know him.”

Tyler wasn’t going to be able to push Blurry away much longer. “You  _ know him?” _

“Well, knew him. Knew of him. There were rumors he had successfully created the first genetically modified talent, but there wasn’t any proof. There was no data, no research, no test results. Everything was gone. The only thing anybody had were rumors. Oh Josh, if anybody finds you, sees you, can prove that you’re the one Wilson made...” his sentence trailed off, and he shook his head sadly. “You’re worth a lot of money, like, millions, maybe even billions. Anyone that gets their hands on you can extract your DNA, look at your genetics, and see how to make more like you.”

“I’m not,” Josh shoved Tyler away, panic rising in his voice,“I’m not an object! People can’t just, steal me away like property-”

“That’s the black market for you. They take what they shouldn’t to make money they don’t deserve.” with an aggravated groan, Tyler’s father banged his fist on the desk and sank into his chair. “Please tell me you live somewhere secluded.”

“Yes,” Tyler replied. “I’m not saying where. I’m not risking Josh’s life.”

“I understand. Actually, I might be able to help.”

That got both the boys’ attention. Hope crossed Josh’s eyes. Blurry finally snapped, and Tyler backed up, allowing his other half room.

“Ty-” Josh turned around, and upon noting the fact that Tyler’s eyes were now maroon, let his shoulders droop and tilted his head. “Ler. Okay. Not Tyler.”

“I’m fucking pissed off,” Blurry growled, waving his hand. Tyler’s father stared, his leg shaking rapidly. Fear flooded his eyes, fear from years and years ago as he remembered what happened when his son’s eyes turned crimson.

“Uh, I should, should we-”

“No. He’s fine. He’s got control now,” Josh explained, taking a step towards the snarling mess of a man. “Blurry, can he finish speaking?”

“Better hurry it up old man. I already hate you.”

“Uhm,” Tyler’s father cleared his throat. “Well, for the past five years, a few people and I have been tracking down these horrible people buying and selling and have been trying to revert those poor humans back to normal. With some tests, I could figure out vaccines, formulate some serums, see what I could do to reverse the effects.”

“You could... seriously?” Josh looked numb, like he couldn’t believe he was hearing this.

“Well, it’d take a little bit of time, but I’d be willing. Wilson is infamous for his experiments. To try and reverse the effects of that high level of intricacy is going to take awhile.”

“Oh my god.” Josh stumbled backwards, Blurry catching him. Tyler’s father looked even more surprised, if possible. Surprised and worried.

“You, you can  _ touch  _ him?”

“He’s not alive,” Blurryface growled, helping to steady Josh. He turned towards his boyfriend. “I need to talk to Tyler’s daddy, okay? Alone.”

“You need to let Tyler talk too.” Josh glared at him.

“He’s too soft on his father. I’m pissed and  _ very  _ impatient.”

“And I’m being serious.”

A sigh. He dug his foot into the ground. “Yeah. Whatever.”

“Okay.” Josh straightened his posture and firmly nodded his head towards Tyler’s father. “You guys need to talk, and I need time to think. So. Yeah.” with a polite smile, Josh disappeared up the stairs, leaving the atmosphere tense and rigid.

_ You can yell at him, but please don’t break him. Ease into it. _

Blurry rolled his eyes and dropped into a chair, folding his arms across his chest as he nudged a stack of papers with the toe of his shoe. “So Daddy Joseph, let’s chit chat, huh? You never really got a chance to speak with me, did you? Too busy locking us away.”

“We did it to protect you-”

“You did it to protect yourself!” he snarled. His father blinked, his mouth parted slightly.

“Tyler-”

“I’m not TYLER!” he was up from his chair now, pacing through all the junk quickly, tugging at his hair.  _ Calm down. Calm down. Please.  _ “Fuck you.”

“I understand why you left Tyler. I know your mother and I didn’t handle the situation as best as we could and I’m sorry. We should have been loving, and supportive of helping you through hard times, not as discouraging and fearful as we were.”

“Call me Tyler one more time. I fucking dare you.”  _ Alright, that’s it. I’m taking control. _ Blurry grunted, his eyes squeezing shut as power slid Tyler’s way. Eyes trickled back to brown as Tyler crackled his knuckles and took a few steps forward. “Dad, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. For hating you and mom, for leaving without telling anyone and especially for not visiting.” Silence. Tyler pawed at his face and tried to push everything down. He was not going to cry. “I struggled a lot. My self esteem was so low, I felt alone and worthless and tried countless times to try and off myself. Blurry got to be so much Dad. I don’t mean to put all of this on you, I just...” he trailed off, unable to figure out the rest of what he wanted to say. Tyler’s father pushed up from his office chair and shuffled around the desk.

And for the first time since he was 16 years old, his father hugged him.

Tears started falling, and Tyler clung to his dad like a little kid, fingers twisting in the bottom of his unwashed shirt. Pete and Patrick had taken care of Tyler to the best of their abilities, and Tyler loved them unconditionally for that, but it had never been the same. Having his father hug him, tell him everything was going to be okay, was everything Tyler needed.

“Tyler, I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am. I thought about the wrong I did you every damn day. Your mother and I were devastated after we found your room empty. Your mother cried for weeks, telling me, ‘Chris, what’s going to happen to him? What’s going to happen if he turns out there?’ And I’m not going to lie Tyler, we were beyond terrified. You have the power to kill people with a simple touch. I know it’s not really you, trust me, I know that. Your mother and I knew you could make the right decisions out there on your own.”

Tyler sniffed and pulled away to wipe his nose with the back of his hand. “There were other talents that found me. Pete and Patrick. They took me into their home and raised me, gave me tips and tricks about getting used to things. They had talents of their own, and taught me everything I know today.”

“I’m glad you found people. I wish I could have been that person for you Ty.”

“I don’t blame you guys. I was dangerous. I know that now. At the time I was angry and hurt, but now, I get it. I have control now. I have a purpose in life. Given, I had to go through a lot of shit to realize that, but I’m okay with who I am now. And I have Josh.”

“You two... you’re together?”

“Yes we are,” Tyler said confidently. His father nodded.

“Were you two together... when he was human?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said a little less confidently. He knew it was strange and unheard of. Dad nodded again.

“Interesting. So if he were to be like that again... you’d be okay with that?”

“Yes. Of course I would.”

“Alright then. I’ll talk with him. Your mother should be home soon, she went to go visit Zack and Tatum.”

“Zack’s married?”

“Yep.”

Tyler scoffed. His brother was married. His sister too, maybe. He had forgotten about them, forgotten about their lives. Tyler wondered how they had done without him. “Oh.”

“You... you’re planning on sticking around for a few days, right?”

“I wanted too. If... that’s okay.”

His father chuckled, pulling Tyler into another tight hug. “Of course that’s okay.”

-

Later that night, Tyler was up in his old bedroom, sitting on the bed he spent so much time on. Nothing had changed. His basketball trophies still sat proudly on a shelf above his headboard, void of any dust. He pictured his mother coming up to his room to dust his trophies, her eyes wet with tears, and his heart ached.

Tyler glanced at the window. They had replaced it, gotten rid of the bars, but he could still see the imprints of each individual piece of metal against the drywall.

After speaking with his father, Tyler had gone to sit in the living room to wait for his mother while Josh spoke with his dad. He knew they were talking about a cure, and although Josh seemed so hopeful at a chance to feel normal again, Tyler didn’t want him to go back. As selfish as it sounded, Tyler loved being with Josh, being able to touch him no matter who he was at the moment. He loved that they could go for jogs, or wrestle or kiss and Josh wouldn’t run out of breath or need to catch up. To Tyler, Josh was better than he had been before.

And he knew that made him an awful person.

His mother came home after half an hour after Josh went downstairs to talk, coming in through the front door with a few bags of groceries in her arms. The minute she saw him sitting on the couch, she gasped, the bags falling to the ground. A carton of eggs cracked, yellow yolk seeping into the wood floors.

She didn’t care.

Tears ran as she hugged him, sinking to her knees in the process, and Tyler didn’t say a single word. He hugged her back tightly, as tight as someone could who hadn’t seen their mother in over a decade. “I’m so sorry Tyler,” she kept sobbing. This went on for about five minutes before the two finally moved to the couch, her grip on Tyler’s hand shaky and unstable.

Tyler told her everything. He told her about Pete and Patrick, about creating his safe haven for talents with nowhere to go. He told her about his tattoos, about his friends, about his fears and insecurities and even about the murders, the low points in his life when he wanted to kill himself. He told her about Blurry, about fighting to find peace, and even explained the story about how he found it. He told her about Josh. About his crinkly, mocha eyes and his dimples and his beautiful white smile. He told her how he plays the drums, and how he used to be human, and how for the first time in his life, he understood that humans were okay, and not awful bottom feeders like he had always thought. “I love him,” he told her, and she sniffed, nodded her head, and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“I thought about you every day. There wasn’t a day that passed where I wouldn’t wake up and think of you. Sometimes I’d be making breakfast for the kids, or getting groceries, or taking Zack to practice, and I’d freeze up thinking about you. Thinking about where you could have gone, what you were getting yourself into. We never told the police, because honestly, we were afraid of the possibilities of you accidentally hurting someone.” she breathed in deeply through her nose. “I tried to tell myself you were okay and living off on your own, but some days I’d spiral into a pit at the thought of you being dead. Maddy, Zack, Jay, they were all too young to really understand, and I know the way they acted when you were still here. I know it’s our fault, your dad’s and my fault. We instilled fear into them instead of love, and not a day goes by that I don’t hate myself for that. We were part of the problem Tyler. I know that. I know why you left.”

“I was nervous to come back. Nervous about what you guys would think of me, and I didn’t want to hurt you. Josh is the reason I have control now. He’s the reason Blurry is okay with me being in charge most of the time. If I hadn’t met Josh...” Tyler shrugged. “I don’t know what I would have done.”

The minute Tyler’s father and Josh had come upstairs, his mother had been on them, scolding Chris for not telling her, and pulling Josh into a large hug. Josh had hugged her back with a smile on his face.

After that, his mother exclaimed she was going to go pick up some pizzas for dinner and call Tyler’s siblings to come over tomorrow morning, after of course Tyler agreed that would be a good thing to do. That was how he found himself in his bedroom.

Even the door was the same, that slot mocking him like he was sixteen years old again and watching food wrapped in saran be shoved through his door.

_ How can you forgive them so easily? After what they did to you? After what they did to us? _

Tyler shook his head. He knew Blurry would never understand.

A knock interrupted his thoughts as Josh appeared in the doorway, smiling softly. “Hey sport. Mind if I sit with you?”

“Be my guest,” Tyler offered, patting the spot next to him. Josh joined him on the bed, his hand finding its way onto his knee.

“How you doing Ty?” The question itself was broad, but Tyler knew Josh was speaking about the events of today. He sighed loudly, rolled his shoulders, ran a hand through his long hair. He wanted to shave it all off, give himself a fresh start, especially after this.

“I’m a little overwhelmed, if I’m being honest. I knew what I was getting myself into, but I didn’t expect my dad to be a crazy scientist or my mom to launch fifty different things on me. Dude, they don’t even have any photos of me here. It’s like I never existed.”

Josh stared at the hole in the door. Tyler knew Josh was aware of what that had been for. “They were devastated when you left Ty. Not that you should not have. But I kinda get it.”

“I guess I get it too. It’s good to see them, don’t get me wrong. I’m just... I don’t know. I don’t know how things are going to be from now on.”

“Hopefully better. Going to see my family was the best thing I could have done. My mom and I talk all the time and I think I might even go down there for Christmas. This could be your new start Tyler, a way to tie the knot to your life.” his hand curled around Tyler’s bony knee. “Besides. We’re going to live for a very long time. They aren’t going to be around much longer.”

“Yeah.” he huffed, deciding to change the subject. “So... what my dad said.”

“I could be  _ human _ again Tyler. I don’t know how to feel about that.” Josh shook his head in exasperation. “Knowing there’s a whole black market out there of people buying and selling humans disgusts me. Just knowing the fact that if these traders knew I existed, knowing I’m proof that the Brent rumors are real, freaks me out. Knowing I’m worth millions and millions of dollars freaks me out. And I know we live somewhere hidden and secluded, but... I don’t want to go through the pain that Brent caused me again. I don’t want people experimenting on me or using me to do horrible things to other humans. It’s not right. It’s goddamn awful.”

“I agree.” he moved his hand to hold Josh’s loosely. Josh happily obliged. 

“I know I’ve been like this for almost four years now Ty, but I still struggle. I wake up from nightmares, from pain, from fear. I hate living in constant fear of hurting someone I love. Of hurting you. But... at the same time, my life before was not worth much to me. I wanted to kill myself. If I hadn’t found you guys... I don’t know what would have happened. Plus... Blurry wouldn’t be able to touch me anymore, and you’d outlive me.” he chuckled gently, nervously. “So I guess in the end, my decision comes to living to stick with a choice I’ve never been fully comfortable with and learning to live with it, or going back to a life I was okay with but never really liked.”

“You have time Josh. We can stay here as long as you need, if you wanna do the tests and work with my dad.”

“You’d be okay with me doing that? Me being sorta human again?”

“Of course I would Josh. I want you to be happy. And if you aren’t happy now, and you have a chance to be happy, then take it.”

Josh grinned. “I love you Tyler. And you know what? You are incredible for coming here, for speaking to both your parents and setting the facts straight. I’m sure they appreciate hearing from you.”

“It’s been nice to see them for sure. I didn’t think I’d feel as comfortable as I do.” he shook his head, and before he knew it, Josh had snaked a hand behind Tyler’s neck and pulled him in for a gentle kiss, a soft, passionate one that both of them needed. Hot breaths, warm skin, perfect mouths.

They would have kissed forever if Tyler’s mother hadn’t shouted that pizza was here, and if Josh hadn’t pulled away because he was “frickin’ starving.”

Dinner was nice though, so maybe it was all worth it.

-

The next morning brought a whole new round of craziness.

Tyler had brought an overnight bag just in case, so he had gotten the chance to change into some sweats, but he and Josh had squeezed onto his tiny twin and he woke up with a crick in his neck. Tyler rubbed it gingerly as he made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, Josh right on his tail. Josh yawned audibly, running a hand through his curly hair. Tyler blushed when they shared a grin in the mirror.

“Loving the brown,” he said for the umteenth time, and Josh was blushing now too.

“I’m gross dude. Don’t think I’ve showered in two days now.”

“Ew, sicko.” Tyler nudged Josh playfully as he leaned down to spit into the sink.

They both dressed in their clothes from the previous day and padded downstairs to the smell of bacon and into the kitchen where his siblings stared back at them.

They were surprised and in shock. From the look in his mother’s eyes, Tyler could tell they didn’t know the reason why they had been invited home for breakfast.

Maddy was the first to choke, tears spilling over her eyelids as Tyler pulled her into the biggest hug he could muster up for his baby sister. He couldn’t help but laugh as a wave of nostalgia fell over him. A time when he had been thirteen years old, and learning to braid Maddy’s hair.

“I love you Tyler,” she sobbed into his shoulder, her fingernails digging into his forearm. “I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too beautiful,” he kissed her cheek, making a promise to himself to never let his sister go.

Zack and Jay each got their respective hugs, and even though there was a lot less crying, they too expressed their emptiness in his absence. Tyler promised all of them he was never going to disappear ever again. And the best thing was, he knew he could keep his promise.

Breakfast started off rocky. Josh held Tyler’s hand under the table as Tyler explained his control over his evil counterpart and received several more apologies. Blurry was more than irritated with all the quote ‘mushy stuff’ that was going on. Tyler knew he wanted to make an appearance and freak his family out, but ignored the pushing on his ribcage for the better of society.  _ Not now BF. You gotta wait. _

After breakfast, Josh disappeared into the basement with Tyler’s father to work on his cure, and Tyler helped his mother with dishes, his siblings gathered around the island telling stories of what Tyler had missed out on.

Zack had gone to Europe with his wife. Maddy was in medical school. Jay kicked ass at Super Mario Bros.

“You’ll have to play me,” Jay teased, and Tyler begrudgingly agreed.

“I guess I’ll play to lose,” he grinned back.

They spent the rest of the day lounging, watching movies, telling stories, reciting good memories. Maddy never left Tyler’s side, and Josh never left the basement. At one point, Tyler’s mother left the living room to take two large glasses of lemonade downstairs. Tyler was curious to what was going on down there, that was for sure, but he didn’t want to intrude. This was Josh’s business, and as much as Tyler wanted to get involved, he knew he had to refrain. He couldn’t be selfish during a time like this.

One by one, his siblings left, giving plenty of more hugs, phone numbers, and promises to see Tyler again. He felt warm inside, knowing that his family had missed him.

It was only his mother left with him, and he glanced over at her. She was staring at him. “What’s on your mind sweetheart?”

“Do you know what dad does?” Tyler decided it was better to be blunt.

“His... hobby? Yes.” she blinked, the realization finally coming to her. “Is that what they’re doing down there? Is he trying to make Josh human again?”

“Yeah. They’re doing tests, I guess, trying to see if it’s even possible.” he sighed. “I know Josh wants this. He wants freedom from the person he was forced to become. He struggles Mom, with everyday life. Josh is brave, he keeps a smile on his face for me, but I know he would so much rather be the way he had been before. People shouldn’t be turned into another species. It’s not fair to him at all.”

His mother was quiet, picking at threads on her quilt lying across the back of the couch. Tyler could tell that she was thinking and picking her words carefully. “How do you feel about this?”

“Honestly?” Tyler shifted, twisting his fingers together in his lap. “I’m terrified. I’ve become so used to having Josh be this way, I’m know him  _ longer _ this way, and there’s a part of me that doesn’t want him to be human again. I like being able to touch him as me or as Blurryface. I like that he matches my strength and speed. I just, I like the way things are now. I don’t want change. And I know that’s the selfish part of me talking, because I love Josh more than I think I’ve ever loved someone before. He showed me what it was like to be happy. He’s my soulmate.” a small smile rose to his face as he sniffed. “I want Josh to be happy. And if this is what makes him happy, then I’m going to support him.”

“You’re a good person Tyler. I knew that from the minute you were born. The only advice I could offer for you is to keep supporting Josh. You two are a team. I think it might be important to share your opinion with him, but let him know that you’re going to be there for him like you told me. You can’t bury this inside yourself because Josh doesn’t feel the same way. Talking is a very important thing in a relationship.”

Tyler nodded. He knew his mother was right. As much as he wanted Josh to know he fully supported any decision Josh made, he didn’t want Josh’s decision to be influenced by Tyler’s selfishness. “Thanks Mom. It’s been nice talking to you about this kind of stuff.”

She laughed a little, reaching out for her son’s hand. “It’s good old fashioned relationship stuff, regardless of the situation. I wish we could have done it more.” After a sigh, she gestured to Tyler’s chest. “How’s the other guy?”

Tyler’s hand slid down his chest, pausing right over his beating heart. It thumped quickly. “You mean Blurry?” A nod. “Better, that’s for sure. He’s been iffy about this whole situation.”

“Would you tell him I’m sorry? For everything I caused him too. When he had control, all I ever did was let fear overcome me, and for that I’m sorry. I’m especially sorry for never listening.”

Blurry grunted, but Tyler smiled. “I think he already knows.”

-

The two left later that night with a promise that they’d come back and visit soon. Tyler’s father promised he’d run trials and come to them with any new information he had. Tyler’s mother pressed a kiss to his temple and told him not to forget what she told him.

“Josh is going to love you no matter what,” she whispered in his ear. Tyler nodded.

In the car, Josh was quiet. He looked exhausted, purple bags hanging low under his dark eyes, his hair a mess from constantly running his fingers through it. Not to mention, his arms were littered in bruises, most likely from where he had been prodded with needles.

“How are you Josh?”

“I’m okay.” his voice was quiet, and he peered out the window at the passing city. “A little sore is all.”

“Are you hopeful?”

“About a cure?” Josh twisted in his seat, adjusted his seatbelt, and twisted his fingers together. “Yeah. I think so. I just, I don’t know what I want to do yet.”

“You mean you aren’t settled? I thought you wanted to be human again.”

Josh shrugged. “I know I wouldn’t  _ really _ be fully human, but yeah, for a while I did think that. But then I started listing out the pros and cons of both choices, and now I’m sort of stuck.” He rubbed his neck, and once again ran fingers through his long hair. “What do you think?”

_ Here goes nothing,  _ Blurry said sarcastically. Tyler bit his tongue, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. “I don’t want my opinion to influence your choice. I’m happily willing to support whatever choice you make.”

Josh sunk back into the seat, his hands running over the leather absentmindedly. “You want me to stay like I am... now.”

“Yeah,” Tyler whispered, almost... ashamed. “I know it’s selfish, but this is how I’ve known you the longest. I love how warm you are, how strong you are, that you can match my pace and I don’t have to worry about hurting you like I did when you were human. Blurry can _touch_ _you_ and you don’t die. If you were... human again, I could kill you, like I almost did before.” he finished, leaving the car in an uncomfortable silence. “I just want you to be happy J. Whatever decision you make is the right one. I’m going to support you no matter what.”

Josh didn’t reply. He spent the rest of the car ride picking at his fingernails, and Tyler tried to ignore the hurt in his eyes.

-

A month passed before Josh got the call from Tyler’s father.

Tyler had been with him and noticed the fear that crossed his face.

The past weeks had been nothing too special, the most exciting thing being that Josh had sat everyone down and explained to them that he had a chance at being normal again. Tyler hated that term, “normal.” He knew Josh saw himself as some freak of nature, and that broke Tyler’s heart again and again.

“Tyler’s father is working on a cure for me,” Josh exclaimed, waving his arms around wildly. “I haven’t fully made a decision yet, but I’m working on it. I’m taking things slowly.”

“I wouldn’t mind having a human living with us again,” Pete replied, grinning as he slid his arm around Patrick’s shoulders. Patrick nodded his head firmly.

“We’ll be more than supportive of your decision Joshua. I think we understand that what you went through was not pleasant.” That was Dallon, flashing Josh a sympathetic smile. Everyone had something to say, whether it be expressing their support or reasons why Josh shouldn’t risk it.

“I don’t want you getting more hurt,” Brendon had told him privately, (minus the fact that Tyler was also in the room.) “I was there too. I know about the trauma and the pain, and I don’t want to see you go through all of that again. I think it would be better for you to stay as you are. You’re adapting and living, and things happen for a reason, right?”

Josh had slept in his own room that night instead of downstairs with Tyler. 

Now, Josh’s phone ringing loudly, Tyler stepped up and answered the phone for him. “Hey Dad, it’s Tyler. What’s up?”

“Tyler, is Josh there with you?”

“Hi Mr. Joseph.” Josh’s voice cracked, and Tyler reached for his hand out of comfort.

“I finished the cure Josh, and ran several trials and codes. I think I could reverse the effects. It’d take several days and several needles and injections, but we could do it. The side effects, however, would be plentiful. I’m not sure what would happen, but it’s up to you.”

“Really?”

“Really. You’d be safe again.”

Josh was numb again, Tyler could tell. Blurry was furious, screaming his lungs out, prying open Tyler’s ribcage to soak his heart in tar. He wanted control.  _ Fuck you Tyler. Fuck you. _

“T-Thank you Mr. Joseph. I think I could drive down tomorrow if you wanted to start then?”

“Yes, that would work. We could start tomorrow, but you’d be out for almost two weeks. Once we start though, you can’t go back. Without all the injections, you will die.”

Josh swallowed nervously, squeezing Tyler’s hand in fear. “I understand. Thank you, I’ll speak with you tomorrow.” after exchanging goodbyes, the phone line went dead, and Josh let it fall to the carpet with a thud. Tyler leaned forward to look at his face.

“J? You doing alright?”

“Are you sure you’re okay with me doing this Tyler? I know you felt... anger towards the human race. And I know I was different, but I don’t-”

“Joshua.” Tyler scooted closer and reached for Josh’s other hand so he was able to clench both of them tightly. “Of course I am okay. I want you to be happy and feel comfortable with who you are. You’ve done so much for me and showed me so much support so I could be happy. I want to do the same for you. I love you J.”

Josh smiled. He was staring at the ceiling and blinking away tears. “I love you too Tyler.” 

And the next thing they knew, Tyler was on his back, Josh straddling him as he leaned down to kiss Tyler gingerly, his teeth sliding over Tyler’s bottom lip and sinking in slowly. Tyler moaned, reaching up to grab fistfuls of Josh’s shirt as their tongues met. He tried to ignore the fact that this was the last night they could do this before Tyler had to start being careful again.

Josh’s fingers fumbled with unbuttoning Tyler’s pants and he tugged denim and boxers down to his midthigh, exposing his hard, flushed cock. Josh let out a low whistle teasing, trailing one finger right under his belly button. “Can I blow you?”

“Fuck,” Tyler muttered, letting Blurry take over the first time in days. He knew Blurry needed this just as much as he did. After all, this was the last time Blurryface could enjoy Josh’s presence and touch as well.

Hands buried in faded reddish pink hair, sunk into brown, and melted into their last night together.

-

Josh had left in the early hours of the morning, before the sun even rose. Tyler had laid in bed with his eyes closed, breathing in and out as slowly as he could as he tried to convince himself that everything was going to be okay.

He didn’t go to breakfast, opting to pace his room instead. It had been a long time since he had been alone down here, had  _ felt _ alone down here. If he squinted hard enough, he could still see traces of blood he had missed scrubbing those chilling words off the wall.

Tyler wandered to his turntable and flipped through some records. He decided on Mozart and went back to pacing.

It wasn’t just the fact that Josh was going to be gone for weeks that bothered him, it was the fact that Josh could get hurt, or something could go wrong, and he would die. Maybe his father hadn’t performed enough test runs. Maybe something terrible would happen.

Even if the procedure was successful, would Josh be the same? Would he act the same? Would the trauma Brent caused him still bother him with night terrors and horrible flashbacks?

Tyler had so many questions. He should have driven up to the house with Josh, why hadn’t he done that?

Josh had specifically told Tyler that this was something he needed to do alone, but that didn’t make Tyler feel any better. He felt awful that he couldn’t be there to support the person he loved.

Dallon came downstairs a few hours later with a sandwich and a sympathetic smile. He knocked on the door before pushing in, wandering to where Tyler had draped himself across his desk and resorted to writing to take his mind off of Josh.

“Hey Ty. How are you?”

“Honestly? A little shitty.” Tyler's pen clattered to the desk as he sighed loudly. “I know Josh is going to be fine, but I can’t help thinking about all the things that could go wrong. And I’ve tried to be supportive, because I fucking  _ love  _ Josh, but I feel like it’s all wrong. Everything is wrong.”

Dallon slipped into the chair across from Tyler with a heavy sigh of his own, pushing the sandwich on its paper plate across the desk. “I brought you some food. You should eat.”

“You really think I could eat at a time like this?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.” he leaned back and rubbed at his face a few times. Tyler was sure Dallon was stressed, especially if he was focusing in on Josh’s emotions. “I can tell you feel... upset with Josh’s choice. Why is that?”

“Because I’m selfish Dal. I want him for myself. As fucked up as it sounds, the stuff that happened with Brent shaped our relationship. I loved Josh beforehand, but we had our complications, and now that it’s been  _ years _ since Josh got kidnapped, I just feel like everything is right. If Josh hadn’t been taken, Blurry and I might have never been able to get along.”  _ And I would have never gotten to fuck Josh. _ Tyler rolled his eyes. “The way Josh is now... he’s perfect to me. He’s gonna grow old with me. He’s strong, and fast, and I don’t need to play safe with him. He’s all mine.” Tyler had told himself he wasn’t going to cry, but things weren’t working out so well. “He’s the reason I’m the person I am today. When he comes back, he... it’ll be like the first time I kissed him. There’d be anger and tension and all I want to do is be supportive and love him either way and I know I will, but there’s a part of me that knows I can’t fully do that.”

Dallon’s sad smile was back on his face as he reached across the desk to gently touch Tyler’s hand. “Josh loves you, you know that?”

“Of course I do. He’s the best thing to ever happen to me.” Tyler opened his mouth to say more, but he choked, a dull pain burning in the back of his throat like he was swallowing sand. Before Tyler could do anything to put up a fight, Blurryface had stolen control, his red eyes blinking sadly. Dallon yanked back sharply, but he was calm and collected. He wasn’t afraid anymore.

“You don’t understand Dallon. Josh can’t go back to how he was before. I can’t live without him. He’s the only person who’s ever loved me as much as everyone else loves Tyler.” Blurry scoffed, upset by his behavior. He was acting like a baby, he knew that.

And for the first time ever, Blurry didn’t give a shit.

“What am I supposed to do without being able to touch Josh too? I can love Josh back just as much as he loves me. I can touch somebody. For the first time  _ ever, _ I can touch somebody.” He blinked a few times, and oh  _ fuck,  _ there were more tears streaming down his face. “Josh is different. He’s not like anybody else. He’s smart, and kind, and he’s so good at sex-” Blurry smirked as Dallon’s face turned red. “I can’t let him go. I can’t go back to how things were before hand. That’s not an option for me.” he sighed, running a hand over his sternum where he could feel Tyler listening. “But I know I have to support him too. That’s what Tyler wants for him, to be happy. And that’s what I want for him too.” the release of power was quick and peaceful, and once again it was Tyler’s big brown eyes watching Dallon carefully.

Dallon smiled. “You love him, don’t you?”

“More than anything in the entire world.”

“That’s all that matters Tyler, and you too Blurry. Josh knows you love him. He knows the both of you love him. He knows you’re trying to be supportive, even if it’s hard for you. And I know in the end things are going to work out. They always do.”

Tyler sniffed and wiped away the tears under his eyes with shaky fingers. Blurry held his head up high. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Now will you please eat? Maybe come upstairs and out of the dark? There were talks of pizza for dinner tonight, and I knew a bunch of people were looking to go see a movie or something. Would you join us?” Dallon could tell Tyler was wary. “Spencer’s willing to help you know. Josh isn’t going to be back for two weeks. Distractions will be good for you.”

A nod. “Okay. Yeah, sure.”

Dallon pulled Tyler into a hug, and together they climbed the stairs.

-

The minute Tyler got home he was wandering into Josh’s bedroom. He wanted familiarity, even if it had only been a day since he had seen Josh.

However, someone else also had a similar idea.

Josh pushed off his bed with a smile and quickly pulled Tyler in for a long hug, his arms wrapping all the way around Tyler’s waist. Tyler was frozen to the spot, his eyes wide.

Josh was home, which could only mean one thing.

“You didn’t go through with it?” Tyler nudged Josh off of him, his face twisting into concern. “Josh, you were supposed to be gone for two weeks, not one day! Why the hell-”

“I realized something when I was sitting there in your living room Tyler. I’m  _ okay _ with this life. I have been, since the start. Besides, I had agreed to be this way in the beginning, hadn’t I?”

“That’s completely different Joshua,” Tyler answered in a stern tone, more confused now than upset. Josh rolled his eyes.

“Before I found you guys, I had nothing. I was living in a shitty one bedroom apartment living each day one at a time and wondering when I was going to be found by the drug cartel. You guys welcomed me in with so much kindness and give me a sense of purpose in life. And then came the moment when I discovered I couldn’t touch you. That made things a thousand times worse.” Josh exhaled loudly, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling so he could control his tears. “I know I always put off talking about Brent, but I think it’s been good for me to let out some of the stuff I’ve kept bottled up for so many years. It’s been almost  _ four years _ since that happened to me and we’ve only talked about it once. Look, if Brent hadn’t picked me, hadn’t turned me into what I am today, I would have died. I would have wandered into the city alone and died. Brent gave me a new opportunity. I could  _ touch  _ you again Tyler. And then I found myself thinking further into it. Would you and Blurry would have been given the chance to share power if I hadn’t been kidnapped? How would things have gone? I know you... struggled when I was human. Our relationship struggled, because you knew you should not have been getting in deep with someone who wasn’t like you. Being human, all I can think of is Blurry’s anger and sorrow, how uncontrollable he was. We had some close calls. You were miserable. But now? Fuck man, Blurry’s tolerable.” 

_ Wow, thanks Josh. Really heartfelt.  _ Tyler cracked a smile. Josh continued.

“I’m not going to lie, at first the idea of not having to worry about being kidnapped by crazy people or accidentally hurting somebody was not a bad idea, but when I really thought about it, I don’t know why I thought I could ever do such a thing. Everything we’ve worked for these past four years would be for nothing. I love you Tyler. Without you, I’d be dead.” Josh’s tears were finally falling now, and Tyler reached out to hug him. Josh’s skin was soft and warm and he smelled like cinnamon. “I could never leave you alone in this world. The life I have now is a million times better, and with more practice I’ll gain some more self control. I can’t give up this easily into my new life. I trust you. I know you’ll carry me when I need it.”

“Of course I will,” Tyler was crying now too, and he didn’t even care that he was far too emotional for a man, “I love you Josh. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Josh kissed Tyler softly, just as he had done back in Tyler’s childhood bedroom. Tyler felt safe. “Me either,” Josh whispered back.

That night, they fell asleep in each other’s arms, and Tyler never let go of Josh, because he knew he never would have to ever again.

-

Back at home, Tyler’s father stuck a month of work into a safe he had thrown into a hole in his backyard along with the cure he had made for Josh. 

“Just in case,” he told himself as he locked it away, and used a shovel to pile dirt on top of it.

After that, Tyler’s father marched to the front yard, dropped Brent’s file on the sidewalk, and lit it on fire, watching as ash blew towards the sky.

And somehow, miles away, Tyler knew that everything was going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! You can always find me at pastelxmess on tumblr if you wanna talk or something. I love talking.
> 
> And once again, thank you for everything. You guys are the reason I wanna keep this writing thing up. <3

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  * [The Heater Broke](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4752590) by [theyfillwithfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theyfillwithfire/pseuds/theyfillwithfire)
  * [Little Thoughts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4760600) by [troubledsouls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/troubledsouls/pseuds/troubledsouls)
  * [til death do us part. or something.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7388761) by [sepiapages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepiapages/pseuds/sepiapages)
  * [Time Turned Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7339612) by [sepiapages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepiapages/pseuds/sepiapages)
  * [when all of our friends are dead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7428316) by [sepiapages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepiapages/pseuds/sepiapages)
  * [Set My Soul On Fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9923447) by [Acadjonne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acadjonne/pseuds/Acadjonne)




End file.
